


Attack on Titan X Godzilla: Alpha Predator

by AlphaBeta17



Series: Attack on Titan X Godzilla [1]
Category: Godzilla - All Media Types, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arguing, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Reinterpretation, Crossover, Developing Relationship, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Monster Battles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 46,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23833129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlphaBeta17/pseuds/AlphaBeta17
Summary: When Wall Maria falls under attack by monsters leading the Titans, Eren and his friends lose everything they've ever known. Years later, they have a chance to fight back. But things don't go as planned, and after Eren finds out he has the ability to shift into the monster Godzilla, everything changes. Now, everyone's fates are altered in ways none of them were expecting.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Mikasa Ackerman/Eren Yeager
Series: Attack on Titan X Godzilla [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1717291
Comments: 16
Kudos: 40





	1. Shiganshina District

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome! Thanks for taking the time to check out my Attack on Titan/Godzilla crossover story! Before we begin, there are a few things I need to explain first in order for the story to make sense. 
> 
> First, this is set in an alternate Attack on Titan world where a bunch of details about how the world operates, how the government and military are organized, and what the Titans are, are all different from canon. As such, I will not be adhering to the established lore in all aspects, though the general story structure, at least at first, will be similar to what we saw in canon.
> 
> Second, the ‘Titan Shifters’ in this story shift into monsters from Legendary’s Monsterverse, instead of the usual Colossal Titan, Armored Titan, and so forth. They will be referred to as Alpha Titans. The regular Titans, however, operate just as in canon. That is, they’re mindless humanoid giants that want to eat people.
> 
> Third, the MUTO monster from the 2014 Godzilla film is here referred to as Kiseiga, which is a play on the Japanese word for ‘parasite’, which is ‘Kiseichū’. The name MUTO is very odd in my opinion since every other monster in those movies is given a regular name. This naming scheme is actually similar to what Toho did with the spider monster Kumonga (the Japanese word for ‘spider’ is ‘kumo’) and the praying mantis monster Kamacuras (the Japanese word for ‘mantis’ is ‘kamakiri’).
> 
> Fourth, while I'll be using the familiar characters from Attack on Titan, and will generally characterize them as they were originally, this will NOT be the case for every character, particularly Eren, who has several intentional differences from his canon counterpart.
> 
> Finally, I’m using the anime names for all the characters, so it will be Bertholdt Hoover, not Bertolt Hoover, and Armin Arlelt, not Armin Arlert. That’s all for now, and I hope you enjoy my story!

Wall Maria. Fifty meters tall, and made of solid stone, it was an impenetrable marvel of human engineering. Stretching as far as the eye could see, ten-year old Eren knew that if one were to follow it for the hundreds of miles it extended, eventually, they would arrive back at the spot he was at right now. A gigantic circle, it was the outermost of three concentric walls that protected humanity from the man-eating Titans, which roamed the entire Earth outside of Wall Maria. As such, Eren knew that of the millions of people that lived within the Walls, he was one of the closest to the horrors that awaited on the other side. Sitting under a tree with his best friends, Mikasa Ackermann and Armin Arlelt, Eren wasn't thinking about that. Nobody ever thought about that. The sun was shining brightly, birds were lazily flying in the sky above, and Armin was reading from a book he had smuggled out of Shiganshina District.

_The cage I call home. Shiganshina._

"They called it the Alpha Predator!"

Drawing himself out of his wandering thoughts, Eren couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously, Armin? Don't tell me you actually think that stuff is real. They're just stories made up to entertain children like us!"

Armin's expression turned defensive, but his tone remained enthusiastic. "Well, there's no way to know for sure, but wouldn't it be cool if it was?"

Eren scoffed, but Armin pushed on. "It says here that the 'Alpha Predator' was a giant reptilian monster with impenetrable scales and a roar so loud it could be heard from miles away! It even says it was 50 meters tall! Think about it, Eren!" Armin's eyes glimmered with excitement at the thought. "50 meters! That's as tall as the walls are!"

Staring up at the towering wall of stone, Eren felt an involuntary shudder run through his body. He knew why the Walls existed, but their everyday presence in his life was something he would never willingly accept.

_I have the lousiest luck. Each Wall has four outcropping districts to attract the Titans, streamlining defense, and I just so happened to be born into one of them. I wake up every day surrounded by these Walls, while many people in the interior never even see them._

"That would be pretty cool," Eren admitted as he tried to mask his resentment at the world he lived in. "With it by our side, we could finally leave the Walls."

"Exactly!" Armin exclaimed with a bright smile, pleased that he had won his friend over. "Then we could finally see the rest of the world! Gigantic lakes filled with more salt than any merchant could ever collect! Plains of grass filled with all sorts of bizarre animals! Fiery mountains with liquid rock pouring out of them! Think of the possibilities!"

Eren couldn't help but smile at Armin's enthusiasm. "If it's real, then someday, you'll see it all. I'll come with you! While you're writing stuff down about everything we see, I'll hunt and forage for food. It'll be fun!"

"See?" Armin said with a proud smirk. "Nobody else wants to listen to me about this. Only you two. Yeah, the Alpha Predator's probably not real, but legends always come from somewhere. There has to be _some_ truth to it!"

"I'm glad it's not real," Mikasa quietly said from her position a few feet away.

Eren rolled his eyes as he turned towards her. "Do you have to be like that? I wish it was real. I bet it'd help us kill the Titans!"

"How do you know it would help us?" Mikasa said, her stormy grey eyes examining the hot-headed boy she considered a friend. She subconsciously fiddled with the end of the red scarf hanging around her neck as she stared at him. "It might try to destroy us. Or maybe it'd help the Titans."

"You don't know that," Eren said as his voice started increasing in volume. "You're just trying to make us act all scared like you are!"

"I'm not scared," Mikasa said defensively as a dark look crossed her face. "I'm just being realistic."

Before Eren could start to get more heated, Armin stepped in. "It's just a story," Armin said, trying to calm his friend down. "It doesn't matter what we think a supposed giant monster would do. I'm just sharing some stories, you don't need to get all mad about it."

Eren's victorious expression slowly subsided. He glanced over at Mikasa, and gave her an apologetic look. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It just feels so unfair. We've spent our whole lives staring at these walls, wondering what it could be like on the other side. Besides the Titans, it can't be all that bad."

* * *

As the three children crossed through the gate back into Shiganshina District, they were stopped by the Garrison Regiment, as per usual. Eren grit his teeth and remained silent while Armin did the talking, exchanging pleasantries with the bored soldiers. It only took until they had rounded the corner of a building that Eren exploded.

"I hate those stupid soldiers! Always stopping us from coming and going, it makes me sick!" Eren kicked a nearby wall in anger as he ranted. Armin glanced at Mikasa, who shrugged her shoulders. Though she wasn't his brother, she lived with Eren and his parents, meaning that she had heard his rants many times before.

"Eren, they're just doing their jobs," Armin said diplomatically, trying to calm his friend down.

Eren shook his head furiously and started pacing back and forth. "That's the problem! They just do what they're told! They have access to the Military Police's ODM gear, so that means they could get to the top of the walls if they wanted to, but they don't!"

To Eren, the fantastical ODM gear used by the military represented the hopes and dreams of humanity. A contraption mounted to a person's waist, powered by compressed steam, it fired hooks which trailed long metal cables which allowed the user to travel through the air at break-neck speeds. Paired with a set of replaceable cleaving blades, it was the greatest tool humanity possessed against the Titans.

"It's been over a hundred years, and nobody's even tried to go farther than here! Eldia has remained exactly the same this whole time, even though there's a whole world out there, just waiting for us to explore!" Eren was getting even more heated than usual, and Mikasa started nervously keeping an eye out for any adults who might overhear them.

"Walls Sina and Rose both have gates at each of the Districts, but not Maria! Doesn't that bother anyone?!" Eren yelled, not caring who heard him. Mikasa glanced at Armin, silently telling him to shut Eren up, or she would.

"It bothered my parents," Armin quietly said. It took a moment to hit Eren, but when it did, a contrite expression crossed his face. Armin continued on, choosing his words carefully. "But when they tried going over the walls, they were eaten by Titans within an hour." Armin took a deep breath as he revisited the memory of that fateful day. "I remember when the Garrison Regiment came to tell my grandfather. The soldiers who were on top of the wall that day saw my parents die. They looked so uncomfortable with delivering the news."

Armin turned to Eren, his expression turning grim. "I want to leave the walls, Eren. I think everyone does. But we don't for a reason. It's for our safety. It may be unfair, but life isn't very fair. We just have to accept and go along with it. We can't do anything about it, so getting mad won't help."

Eren sighed. He hated to admit it, but Armin made a good point.

"You're right," Eren reluctantly said, his anger dissipating. "Just like always."

Mikasa looked satisfied. She shot Armin a grateful nod and tugged on Eren's shoulder. "We have to get home. Your mom didn't want us out too late."

"Yeah, I need to help my grandfather with dinner. I'll see you guys tomorrow at school," Armin said as he waved goodbye with a half-hearted smile.

"Yeah, see you," Eren said glumly as he turned and started off, leaving Mikasa to run after him.

* * *

"Eren, you need to control yourself. You weren't being very nice to Armin back there," Mikasa sternly told Eren as they neared the Jaeger home. She absentmindedly ran her hands through her hair as she waited for Eren's inevitable sarcastic remark.

"Oh, I wasn't being very nice to him?" Eren scoffed in disgust. "What, like how the Titans were to his parents?"

"I'm just saying," Mikasa continued. "He was really close to them, so you should be more considerate."

"He was close to them?" A brief memory flashed across Eren's mind, but before it could bring back his grief from a year ago, he shoved it back down and replaced it with anger, directing it at his friend instead. "Not like you would know anything about that."

Hurt filled Mikasa's expression as she turned away from Eren and pulled her scarf up to cover her face, leaving only her eyes exposed. "I told you. I'm sorry about what happened," Mikasa quietly said. Eren's expression softened for a second before he shook his head in disgust and took off running for his house as it came into view, throwing the most hurtful thing he could think of back at Mikasa.

"That doesn't matter! It's still your fault!"

Eren ran up the steps to his house and threw open the door, startling his mother as she whirled around from her place at the sink. "Eren! What's-"

SLAM!

Before she could say anything, Eren had slammed the front door shut behind him and bolted up the stairs to the roof.

Carla Jaeger sighed as she heard curse-filled yells filter down from above. A part of her wanted to go up and tell Eren to quiet down, but experience teaching him in class at school had taught her that it was better to let Eren wear himself out first.

The front door opened quietly, and Carla turned around. "Oh, Mikasa, nice to…."

Carla fell silent at the sight of Mikasa's tear-stained cheeks. Noticing Carla's stare, Mikasa wiped her face with her scarf. "I'm fine," she quietly said.

Carla walked over to Mikasa and knelt down in front of her. Mikasa stood still for a second, not wanting to give in, but quickly broke, throwing her arms around her.

"What did Eren say this time," Carla reluctantly asked. She hoped Mikasa would tell her Eren hadn't been the cause this time, but she was quickly disappointed.

"He said it's still my fault."

* * *

"Eren Jaeger!"

Eren winced at the sound of his mother's voice as he heard her open the door to the roof.

_Great, I'm in trouble again. All the other kids don't have to deal with teachers on the weekends. Just my luck my teacher is also my mom._

"Yeah, Mom?" Eren called out, knowing there was no point in avoiding the scolding he was about to get. He cried out when he suddenly felt a harsh tug on his ear.

"Ow!" Eren yelped as his mother dragged him over the stone wall encircling the roof and forced him to sit down, kneeling in front of him to be at eye-level.

"Did you really say that awful thing to Mikasa?"

Eren avoided his mother's gaze, looking out over Shiganshina, wishing he were anywhere but here.

"Don't ignore me, Eren. Did you say it?"

Eren groaned in exasperation. "Yeah, because it's true!"

SLAP!

Eren rubbed his face as his mother glared at him. "You know that's not true. Don't talk like an idiot, even if you are one."

"I'm not an idiot!" Eren replied defensively.

"Then prove it! You know it wasn't Mikasa's fault, but you keep insisting on blaming her. She lost her parents, Eren. She saw them die right in front of her. She was nine, damn it. Try having some empathy for once, will you?"

Eren didn't respond, choosing to sulk instead.

Carla sighed. "Listen. I know how you feel. You're angry. You want someone to blame for the pain. I do as well. But Mikasa is not responsible for what happened. The sooner you accept that, and move on, the happier you'll be."

* * *

Grisha Jaeger shook his head as Carla told him what Eren had said to Mikasa. "That damn kid. I'll talk to him."

"Thanks," Carla sighed in relief. "Take him to the park, will you? I know he likes to climb the trees. I'll spend some time with Mikasa while you're out. I can tell her stories about her parents, that always cheers her up."

Grisha smiled. "You always were better with girls than I was. Still don't know how I convinced you to marry me."

Carla smirked. "It certainly wasn't for your looks. You could try wearing less dorky glasses, and maybe shaving for once."

"Ah, but where's the fun in that?" Grisha gave Carla a quick kiss before calling up the stairs. "Eren! Let's go for a walk!"

* * *

Grisha casually whistled as the park came into view. Really more of a grove of trees, Eren had always loved climbing the trees and pretending he was a soldier with ODM gear. Getting access to constant stories from Armin, whose grandfather was a bookstore clerk, had filled his young mind with a longing to join the Military Police and fly around with their signature gas-powered ODM gear. Grisha had to admit that he understood Eren's passion, but that didn't mean he was comfortable with it.

While the Garrison Regiment was responsible for the three walls, and the four outcropping districts that each wall possessed, the Military Police Regiment had jurisdiction over the vast lands between the walls, plus the capital city of Mitras at the very center of the walls and the many smaller towns and villages between them. They had a mixed reputation among the citizens of Eldia, despite being known as the inventors of the ODM Gear, which the Garrison had quickly adopted as well. Widely seen as corrupt and power-hungry, any time governmental reform came into discussion, they quickly shut it down. The Garrison wasn't viewed much more positively either, often viewed as lazy and incompetent. That didn't mean there weren't members of both who were good, however. Sub-Commander Erwin Smith of the Military Police Regiment, for instance, was well-known for being a proponent of creating a third branch of the military, the 'Scout Regiment' being its theoretical title. It would be primarily focused on exploring outside the walls, and several well-known figures, like Titan scientist Hange Zoë, and Captain Levi Ackermann of the Garrison Regiment, had publicly expressed their desire to join said military branch if it were ever created.

Grisha figured it was only a matter of time before the Scout Regiment became a reality. What concerned him was how unprepared Eldia was for what lay beyond the walls...and how likely it was that Eren would join such an organization.

"Why are we going to the park?" Eren suddenly asked.

Grisha chuckled. "Because you're in trouble, that's why."

Eren looked up at his father in confusion. "But I like going to the park."

"Oh! I'm sorry, we'll go somewhere else then," Grisha said as he turned around.

"No, it's fine," Eren quickly said, realizing his mistake when he saw his father smirk. "You're messing with me again, aren't you," Eren whined as they reached the park. He quickly jumped and grabbed onto the lowest branch of one of the trees, hoping to escape before the lecture began.

"Yep," Grisha said smugly. His expression then turned serious. "You are in trouble, though, and I figured I'd meet you halfway. C'mon, help me up."

Eren was surprised to see his father reaching up and grabbing a branch to pull himself up. "Uh, dad, what are you doing?"

"Climbing the tree, obviously. Come on, we'll chat at the top," Grisha said with a grin.

* * *

As Eren watched the sky turn orange from the sunset, he slowly began to open up to his father.

"She's always telling me off, acting like she's my older sister, but she's not! It gets on my nerves, especially when she tries to boss me around!"

Grisha shook his head in amusement. "By bossing you around, do you mean her suggesting you not start fights at school?"

"Well, she does do that, but that's not the point!" Eren replied defensively. He knew that his parents weren't comfortable with the absurd amount of fights he would get into at school, so he wasn't going to even try to defend himself in that regard.

"It just frustrates me," Eren admitted. "Out of nowhere, Mikasa just shows up and is always coming everywhere with Armin and I, and he always sides with her! Did we really have to take her in?"

"Yes, Eren. It was the right thing to do," Grisha responded patiently. "I know you blame her for what happened, but that simply isn't fair to her. If you keep bullying her about it, she won't want to be around you anymore."

"Good!" Eren said triumphantly.

Grisha rolled his eyes. "Eren. Besides Armin, do you have any other friends?"

"Well, no…." Eren began, only to be cut off by his father.

"Exactly. You're always picking fights at school, so nobody wants to be around you. I know you don't want Mikasa as a sister, and that's fine, but you could at least try being her friend. She's a good person, like Armin, and I think it would do you some good to be nice to her. She needs a friend, and so do you. Help each other out, will you? And definitely apologize to her as well. Whenever you're in the wrong, you should always apologize."

Eren stubbornly dug his heels in. "I still think it's her fault-"

"Eren." Grisha's voice took on a rare stern note, catching Eren's attention. "It wasn't. To continue to say so to her is cruel. If you ever tell Mikasa it was her fault again, I'll personally feed you to the Titans, you understand me?"

Eren sighed. "Yeah, I understand."

"Good. Let's get going. You're going to help your mom make dinner."

"What?!" Eren yelped. "I thought you weren't going to punish me!"

Grisha's eyes twinkled. "When did I ever say that I wouldn't?"

* * *

"I'm sorry about yesterday," Eren mumbled. Mikasa looked up from her lunch and stared at Eren while Armin shifted nervously next to them.

"I keep blaming you for what happened, and that isn't fair of me," Eren stated, clearly uncomfortable with admitting he was in the wrong. "I just got really angry, and I took it out on you. So….yeah. I'm sorry."

It wasn't the most eloquent apology, but for Eren, it was something. Mikasa smiled behind her scarf. "Thank you, Eren," she quietly said.

Armin grinned at the two of them, glad to see his friends getting along. A devilish thought suddenly crossed his mind, and he couldn't help himself. "Aw, Eren's apologizing! Wow, Mikasa, when are you guys getting married?"

Eren whirled around at Armin in shock while Mikasa blushed and sunk into her scarf. As Eren's outraged yells filled the air, Armin looked on with a knowing smirk.

_I like to tease Eren and Mikasa, but they have no idea how grateful I am that they're my friends._

* * *

Armin's body slammed against the side of the building and he slid to the ground, tucking his head under his arms in an attempt to block the blows. It was the same group of kids that always seemed to end up picking on him. Usually, they would leave him alone when Eren and Mikasa were around, but his two friends had stayed late after school that day, leaving Armin exposed while he waited outside the school building.

_It's my own fault. I just can't shut up about the outside world._

"Useless little Armin! You're lucky the walls exist, otherwise, you'd have died a long time ago!" As the other kids sneered at him, Armin groaned in exasperation. He felt the usual feelings of hurt start to make their way to the surface, but he swallowed bravely and stood his ground.

_I'm not useless. I've survived worse than these bullies. I've lost people who cared about me. My mom, my dad...they always said to stand up for what I believe in._

"You're wrong," Armin said with a sudden surge of conviction. "There's an entire world out there, and someday, humanity will explore all of it!"

"Ha! As if you'll live that long!" Armin suddenly found himself picked up by the back of his neck and face to face with the leader of the group, who's malicious glare reminded Armin of the drawings of Titans he had seen. Cruel, and frightening.

"The world's a rough place," the bully sneered. "You're a bright-faced little kid who thinks everything will work out in the end. Someday, you'll end up trusting the wrong person, and you'll be dead in an alleyway!"

Armin wanted to cower in fear, but he prided himself on never backing down. "Don't you guys have anything better to do than threaten someone who dares to dream?" Just as he braced himself for another assault, he was suddenly dropped to the ground.

"Hey look, it's Eren!"

"Oh good, another one-"

"Wait, is that Mikasa with him?"

"Shit! Let's get out of here!"

Before he knew it, Armin found himself being pulled to his feet by his friends. "Don't worry, we got your back," Mikasa said as she glared after the retreating bullies.

"Thanks, guys," Armin said gratefully. Eren was already running after them, yelling at them to come back and fight. Armin looked at Mikasa and shrugged his shoulders, not surprised in the slightest.

"It's fine, Eren, let them go," Armin called out. "They're not worth it."

"I know," Eren growled as he stomped back to his friends. "Doesn't mean I don't want to kick their asses for attacking my friend. Look at them, running away from me like that. Pathetic!"

"Actually, I think they were running away from Mikasa," Armin corrected with a grin. "But thanks anyway. You guys always have my back. I really appreciate it."

Mikasa gave Armin a warm smile while Eren stepped forward and slapped a comforting hand on Armin's shoulder. "You're our friend. We'll always be here for you."

* * *

"So why did you and Mikasa have to stay late anyway?" Armin asked as the three of them made their way to the Southern Canal. Running north to south, and east to west, the canal system ran through each of the districts, meeting in the capital city in the center of Eldia. Starring into the clear water, Mikasa watched as fish lazily swam by, going about their lives without a care in the world.

"My mom wanted us to clean her classroom for her. She said she wasn't feeling very good, so she was going home early," Eren responded as he picked up a rock and tried to skip it across the canal. It sank into the water with a splash, not bouncing even once.

Armin perked up at the sight. "It's better if you use flat rocks, and throw them at an angle. Here, watch!" Armin picked up a rock and threw it into the canal. Instead of landing with a splash like Eren's, it knifed cleanly into the water and sunk to the bottom with barely a sound.

Armin groaned. "Well, in theory, that's how it works."

Mikasa calmly picked up a rock, and after a moment of deliberation, threw it into the canal. It caught the surface of the water just right and cleanly skipped across the surface, making it nearly halfway across.

Eren's eyes widened, and he turned to Mikasa with newfound respect. "Wow, that was actually pretty cool," he admitted. Armin chuckled at his surprised tone.

"Seems like I'm the brains, Mikasa's the skill, and you're….well…." Armin trailed off with a smirk, leaving Eren sputtering as Mikasa grinned from behind her scarf.

"Hey, I can do stuff!" Eren protested. "I can-"

The three children were startled by a bright flash of light, followed swiftly by a thunderclap. The ground shook for a moment, throwing all three children off their feet. Armin threw his hands over his ears while Eren grabbed Mikasa and drew her to him while he looked around wildly.

"It came from outside the wall," Mikasa said as she pointed to a trail of smoke coming from just south of the wall, right where a gate would have been if it was either Wall Sina or Rose.

Armin's eyes widened as a loud, mammalian roar emanated from the smoke's position.

"What the….what's that?" Armin wondered aloud nervously. Eren let go of Mikasa and started walking forward silently, as if he couldn't control himself.

Mikasa reached out and grabbed onto his arm, holding him back. "No, don't get closer!" Her voice was filled with sudden dread, like she knew something terrible was about to happen.

Around Shiganshina, all eyes were trained on the pillar of smoke, and everyone froze when a large head appeared over the wall. Covered in brown hair, it looked distinctly mammalian, with bright, intelligent eyes.

Suddenly, two bony tusks smashed through the base of the wall, sending chunks of solid stone flying across Shiganshina. With a jerk, the tusks tore upwards, raking through the wall like it was made of butter. In the gap that appeared stood a monster. While it looked vaguely like a mammoth, its body structure was more akin to a gorilla, with two massive front legs and two shorter back legs. Covered in brown hair, it lacked a trunk, but retained two long tusks sticking out either side of its nose.

The 60-meter tall monster would come to be known as Behemoth. And with its appearance, everything changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading the first chapter of my Attack on Titan X Godzilla story! Starting on Tuesday, I will be uploading new chapters weekly. Comments are always appreciated!  
> -AlphaBeta17 (4/24/20)


	2. Fall of Wall Maria

Propelled by Behemoth's tusks tearing through the wall, chunks of Wall Maria were launched across the city, landing with explosive crashes. Then, the Titans started pouring in from the outside.

Standing at the destroyed section of the wall, Behemoth watched as they began to wreak havoc. Although there were soldiers stationed on top of the walls, they were utterly ineffective against Behemoth's hide, which was so thick that ODM gear, guns, and even cannons were unable to pierce it.

The soldiers quickly realized that there was absolutely nothing they could do, and they abandoned that effort in favor of retreating out of Shiganshina. The wall, having stood tall for over a century, had been broken through, defying all logic that was known to humanity. Now, the only option left seemed to be evacuating as many citizens out of Shiganshina as possible, then sealing it off. Even if the Titans flooding into the city could be killed, more would just take their place.

Shiganshina was declared a total loss only ten minutes after Behemoth's appearance. The city's authorities decided then that they would give twenty more minutes for evacuation efforts, and then the gates leading to the rest of Eldia would be sealed off.

* * *

As soon as the shock of the attack had worn off, Eren had started towards home with Mikasa right behind him. Armin had gone off to find his grandfather, saying he'd find Eren and Mikasa later.

Sprinting down the streets of Shiganshina, Eren tried to ignore a sense of dread that was slowly consuming his mind. He had seen a chunk of the wall land right in the area of the city where he lived, and was desperately hoping that it hadn't hit his house.

_Mom's alright, she has to be. She was at home, there's no way she's hurt. Mikasa and I will get home, we'll find my Mom, then my Dad will show up, and we'll get out of Shiganshina. Armin and his grandfather will be there, and everything will be OK. It has to be OK!_

As Eren rounded the corner and his house came into view, he froze in utter shock. Mikasa slammed into him and they both tumbled to the ground. Mikasa looked up, and her heart dropped. The house was crushed under a giant chunk of the wall. Eren screamed in horror and jumped to his feet, running towards it.

"MOM!" He cried out when he reached where the front door had been. He looked around desperately, hoping that she hadn't been inside when it had been hit.

"Eren," he heard his mother's voice call out weakly. It was from the back of the house. Relief flooded through him as he ran around the ruins of the house with Mikasa right behind him.

"Mom! Where are you? Are you-"

Eren gasped at the sight. His mother was pinned with her legs trapped under a collapsed section of the house.

"Mom…." He weakly called out as he rushed forward, grabbing onto her arms and pulling.

Carla cried out in pain. "Stop! Stop, please!" Tears were already streaming down her cheeks as her face communicated the hopelessness of the situation.

"Mikasa!" Eren yelled out. "Help me!"

Eren grabbed onto the debris pinning Carla down and started trying to lift. Mikasa rushed forward and joined him, despite knowing already that it was too late.

"Eren, listen to me," Carla said desperately. "You need to run, now!"

"No!" Eren screamed. "I won't leave you!"

"You don't have a _choice_! You have to run, now!"

"No!" Eren refused to give up as he continued to try to lift the debris. As Mikasa tried to help him, she looked down at Carla with an air of despondence.

"Eren…." Mikasa softly said. "It's too late." There was no response from him as he ignored both of them, refusing to accept the situation.

The reality of the situation hit Mikasa. "It's happening again," she murmured to herself.

A voice suddenly broke through the air.

"Carla!" It was Grisha, who came running from the direction of his clinic. He set his briefcase on the ground and quickly surveyed the situation. Within seconds, he came to the same horrible conclusion that Mikasa had. With a haunted look in his eyes, he gently took Eren by the shoulders and pulled him away from his mother. "It's no use," he told his son. Eren looked at his father's face, hoping to find any semblance of hope.

There was none.

Carla gazed up at her husband as he stood over her with a remorseful expression. An unspoken conversation passed between them in the span of a few seconds. It ended when Carla finally spoke. "Just get Eren and Mikasa to safety. Find Armin as well. The three of them need to stay together."

After a moment of hesitation, Grisha nodded. He leaned down and gave his wife one last kiss. "Goodbye. I love you."

A loud thud startled everyone. Grisha turned, and his eyes widened. It was a Titan, standing over the four of them.

A sickening grin was plastered across its face, blood already dripping from its teeth. With a gaze that was devoid of any compassion, any intelligence, any remorse, it seemed almost wrong to call it near-human. It possessed the same anatomical features as a human (besides reproductive organs), but its ambling walk and low guttural moans made it seem more like a possessed animal. Without any doubt, it was a monster in the most horrible sense of the word.

Grisha stared at it for several moments, and it seemed to stare back at him. Its eyes scanned them, in after a moment of frozen silence, Grisha erupted into movement.

He scooped up Eren in one arm while he held out a hand to Mikasa. "Mikasa, grab my briefcase!"

Mikasa picked Grisha's briefcase up in one hand and grabbed hold of his outstretched hand with the other. They took off running as the Titan crouched down and began to dig away at the debris pinning down Carla.

She covered her mouth with her hand to prevent herself from screaming in fear. Tears flowed down her face as the Titan freed her, revealing her crushed legs. The Titan picked her up and began to raise her towards its mouth.

Eren watched with wide eyes as he tried to break free from his father's grasp. "MOM! NO! DAD, GO BACK! GO BACK FOR HER! DON'T LET HER DIE!"

Grisha ignored his son's cries as he plowed onward, every step tearing another hole in his heart. Mikasa kept her gaze forward, not wanting to see what was about to happen.

Eren didn't look away. He watched, horrified, as the Titan's teeth closed around his mother.

Carla closed her eyes for the final time as she thought of her family.

CRACK!

Even from a distance, Eren could hear the snap of his mother's spine as the Titan's teeth split her in two.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Eren's scream carried through the air, joining the chorus of countless others as the Titans feasted on the inhabitants of Shiganshina, the survivors having no choice but to run, and pray that they wouldn't be next.

* * *

Grisha shoved through the pulsating, panicked crowds of people as he desperately tried to reach the gate leading out of Shiganshina.

"Come on, come on, come on…." He muttered to himself. He kept a solid grip on Mikasa's hand as he forged ahead, not wanting her to accidentally let go and get behind. Eren by now was running alongside him, holding his other hand.

Both children were dead silent.

"Eren! Mikasa!"

Grisha turned and sighed in relief. It was Armin and his grandfather, who both appeared unharmed.

"You OK?" Grisha called out.

"We're fine," Armin's grandfather said gravely. "Let's just get out of here."

Grisha nodded and the five of them set off.

* * *

Together, they managed to make it through the gate one minute before it was shut, trapping thousands of people in the city. After they boarded a ferry that was shuttling refugees deeper inside Wall Maria, they had a moment to stop and rest.

Armin cautiously approached his friends while his grandfather and Grisha spoke together. He knew better than to ask where Eren's mother was. It was obvious that something had happened to her. "Are you guys OK?" His voice had a nervous edge to it.

Mikasa stared mutely at Armin while Eren kept his gaze trained on the retreating Wall Maria. Armin nodded quietly in resignation and sat down next to them. He had no idea what he should do, or say. He decided instead to listen in to the adult's conversation.

"They'll probably have to resettle us all," Armin's grandfather quietly said to Grisha, who nodded in response as they sat down next to the children.

"This is unprecedented," Grisha agreed grimly. "Humanity just lost ground for the first time in over a century. However, I fear this is only the beginning."

A lightning bolt, followed by a shrieking roar, suddenly came from within Shiganshina. Armin swung his head in shock while Grisha visibly flinched at the noise.

"My god," Armin's grandfather softly said. "That's the same kind of lightning that struck when that first monster appeared. Does that mean…."

Thundering footfalls suddenly came from Shiganshina, rapidly approaching Wall Maria. People on the ferry began to panic in alarm while members of the Garrison jumped ship, using their ODM gear to get away. With a colossal bang, a second monster burst through the wall.

This monster would later come to be known as Kiseiga. Standing 50 meters tall with a gray tone, it looked distinctly like an arthropod, possessing eight jointed legs and a chitinous exoskeleton.

It released a warbling roar that echoed across the landscape as chunks of the wall impacted on the ground nearby. One chunk nearly hit the ferry, landing just behind it by only a few meters in the canal, spraying everyone on board with water.

While Mikasa pulled her scarf up around her face, and Armin covered his head with his hands, Eren clambered to his feet. Grisha reached out to try to pull Eren back down to the ground, only for Eren to swat at him in anger.

"No," Eren said through gritted teeth as he turned to face Kiseiga. "You did this. You did this!"

The other passengers on board looked at each other nervously as Eren started yelling in rage. Kiseiga didn't notice him, of course, but it still put everyone on edge.

"Eren," Grisha said weakly. "Please sit down. Yelling won't help anything."

"I don't care!" Eren screamed. "It did this! These _monsters_ killed her! I KILLED HER! I…."

Eren collapsed to the deck of the ferry and began sobbing. The other passengers looked away in pity while Grisha gathered his son in his arms.

"I wasn't strong enough," Eren whimpered. "I couldn't save her. It's my fault she's dead."

Armin tried to shut out the sounds of his best friend tearing himself apart. Mikasa put an arm around his shoulders, and he gratefully accepted to contact. He knew now that things had just become a million times worse. Now, Titans could spill inside Wall Maria, and there was no way to stop them.

This was the beginning of the end.

* * *

Grisha pulled along Eren as he led his son into the woods near the refugee camp that had been set up just north of Trost, the southern city of Wall Rose. Eren had no idea what was going on. All he knew was that his father had returned after a public announcement was given in Trost with a panicked expression, and immediately pulled Eren away from his friends, saying that they needed to go on a walk.

Now, they were several miles away from any other humans, and Eren was terribly confused.

"Dad, what's going on?"

Grisha turned to his son and sighed. He set down his briefcase and opened it, revealing an assortment of medical supplies.

"Eren," he began. "There's a lot you don't know about our world. The reason the walls exist. Why monsters exist. What Titans are, and why they prey on us. It's all connected."

Eren stared at his father in confusion. "What?"

Grisha sighed. He pulled a syringe out of his briefcase and snapped it shut. After examining the syringe, he appeared satisfied. He turned to Eren with a sorrowful expression.

"You're not going to remember any of this conversation. Nobody ever does. You'll discover what I've done here, eventually, and I'm telling you right now, I'm so sorry. It shouldn't have to be you, but it is. This will be your power now. I've had it for too long, and I can't risk it being lost before I can find a suitable candidate. I just have to hope you'll be able to do what is necessary."

Eren backed away from his father nervously. "Dad….what are you doing?"

Grisha took a deep breath and plunged the syringe into the back of his own neck. He grimaced as he extracted a glowing fluid from the axis bone, the second topmost vertebrae in the human neck. He pulled out the syringe and turned to Eren.

"Eren. I am so sorry," he said. A regretful expression crossed his face. "I love you."

Eren screamed as his father grabbed him.

* * *

Eren gasped as he opened his eyes. He sat up quickly, only to find a gentle pair of hands pushing him back down.

"It's okay. Rest." It was Mikasa. Eren relaxed slightly and rubbed his forehead.

"What happened," he mumbled.

"We're not sure. Your father took you out into the woods several hours ago. When you never came back, Armin and I took his grandfather to go look for you. We found you lying out in the forest, unconscious. The ground was burnt around you, and there there was no sign of your father. I carried you back here, and Armin and his grandfather should be getting back soon. Hopefully, they found your father."

Eren tried to remember what happened, but for the life of him, he couldn't. He suddenly winced as a phantom pain shot up his spine. He raised his hand to the back of his neck.

"What is it?" Mikasa asked as concern filled her eyes.

"It's nothing," Eren said as he felt the smooth skin on the back of his neck. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but whatever it was, it didn't exist.

"Thanks," he said quietly. Mikasa looked up in shock.

"What for?"

"For carrying me back here. I appreciate it." After a pause, Eren took a deep breath. "I know I haven't been very nice to you, and I'm sorry. I know what happened last year wasn't your fault, I was just so angry that I needed someone to blame."

Mikasa looked at Eren carefully, not saying anything.

"I guess, now," Eren continued slowly, "that just seems so insignificant compared to what happened today." He jumped when he felt Mikasa put her hand on his shoulder. He nearly pulled away, but managed to force himself to relax.

"Thank you," Mikasa whispered.

Eren was able to give a small smile in return.

* * *

**Two Years Later**

Eren's father was never found by Armin and his grandfather. They returned several hours after Eren woke up, both utterly exhausted, and had collapsed immediately, apologizing profusely to Eren.

Eren was more confused than anything.

The next day, he had discovered why his father had panicked so suddenly. It turned out that all four cities along Wall Maria, not just Shiganshina, had been attacked by a pair of monsters leading a Titan horde. These monsters came to be known as Alpha Titans, and at each city, events unfolded much the same way they had gone at Shiganshina. Now, the entire population of Wall Maria was fleeing within Wall Rose.

It was a humanitarian disaster. So much land had been lost that famine became a serious threat. Even though the Alpha Titans quite literally disappeared in the chaos, and never attacked Wall Rose, it appeared that humanity would perish anyway.

In desperation, the government of Eldia declared a massive operation to retake Wall Maria. Over twenty percent of the population took part, including Armin's grandfather. Nearly all were killed.

It did, however, save Eldia from starvation. With much of the adult population of Wall Maria having participated in the effort, there were many children left abandoned, with no family in the aftermath. The government soon put them all to work farming within Wall Rose. This included Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, who stuck together throughout the long two years following the fall of Wall Maria.

It wasn't until they were twelve years old that things began to change.

* * *

"I'm joining the military," Eren suddenly said one day as the three of them were eating lunch.

Armin turned to Eren in alarm while Mikasa stared straight ahead, absorbing Eren's declaration. "But, it's dangerous!" Armin said worriedly. "Many cadets end up dying in the Training Corp!"

"I don't care," Eren said with determination. For the first time in a long time, fire appeared in his eyes. Months on end filled with nothing but menial labor had been driving him slowly insane, and he was determined to take the opportunity to do something different. "I've spent long enough digging around in the dirt. I know what I want to do with my life."

Eren gazed to the south, the direction where they had lost everything. He allowed thoughts of his dead mother to fill his mind, and he fed off his anger. "I'm going to kill the Titans. Every last one of them. I'm going to wipe them from the face of the Earth. And then, I'll kill the Alpha Titans that broke down the walls. All eight of them. I don't care how long it takes, or how much I have to sacrifice. My mom deserves justice for what happened to her. I swear it. I'll kill them all!"

Eren glanced at Armin and Mikasa, and found them both giving him nervous looks. After a moment, Eren's expression softened. He turned to them and tried to smile. "I've decided that's what I want to do with my life. There's no changing my mind. Don't worry, I'll come visit you guys whenever I can. You've stood by my side these past couple of years, even though I've never been a very good friend. I appreciate you guys, even if I suck at showing it."

Armin stared at Eren with an unconcealed surprise. A grin slowly crossed his face. "Eren, is that humility I hear?"

Eren groaned. "Don't get used to it. I'm just saying, I don't deserve you guys, and I'll miss you."

Mikasa suddenly spoke up. "I'm coming with you."

After a moment of silence, Armin burst out laughing. "Of course you are. And I'm coming too."

"What?" Eren couldn't hide the surprise in his voice. "But why?"

"Are you kidding?" Armin rolled his eyes. "Honestly Eren, if we don't come with you, you'll end up getting killed your first week in training! Besides..." Armin faltered for a second, before determination filled his eyes and he gave Eren and Mikasa a solid look. "Besides, I want to fight back against the Titans as well. My grandfather's gone, and I want justice, just the same as you."

Eren let out a resigned sigh. "Are you guys sure about this? It'll be dangerous. Any of us could die."

Mikasa glanced at Armin, who gave her a small nod. "Eren," she said. "Where you go, we go. That's the way it is, and that's the way it will always be."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As the backstory for this alternate universe is much different than it was in canon, Grisha was in Shiganshina for the attack. Because of this, I decided he would be present for Carla's death, instead of Hannes, as I felt it was more emotionally impactful.
> 
> Something else that will also be different from canon is Mikasa's backstory, which I've been intentionally hinting at, and will be explained in a couple of chapters.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and comments are always appreciated!
> 
> -AlphaBeta17 (4/28/20)


	3. The 104th Division

**One Year Later**

“ATTENTION!”

Eren watched nervously as Commandant Keith Sadies stalked down the line of cadets, inspecting their posture for errors. It was the first day of training for the 104th Division of the Cadet Corp, and he was determined to not be called out.

“PATHETIC!” Sadies yelled at Milieus Zeremski, who had his arms arranged backward. Milieus quickly rearranged his arms, but Sadies had already moved onto his next victim.

“STRAIGHTER, DAMN IT!” Sadies bellowed at Armin, who tried in vain to correct his posture. Sadies groaned at the sight. “You certainly won’t last long,” he said dismissively.

As Sadies continued on down the line, he continued to yell at different cadets for various problems before stopping in front of one girl in particular. His eye twitched at the sight.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He said slowly.

The girl swallowed the mouthful of potato and snapped to attention.

“Sasha Braus, sir!” She yelled. “I am eating a potato!”

“I can see that,” Sadies commented with barely restrained rage. “But, tell me. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU EATING IT HERE?!”

Sasha squeezed her eyes shut and responded as loudly as she could. “Because I am hungry, sir!”

Sadies stood still for a second, digesting the answer, before he responded. “THAT’S IT! FIFTY LAPS AROUND THE FIELD, NOW!”

Sasha didn’t bat an eye. “Yes, sir!”

Eren and the other cadets had to withhold chuckles as she took off to begin her laps. All but one of them were successful. 

“YOU THERE!”

“Huh?” The cadet who had failed to remain silent jumped at the yell aimed directly at him. “Uh, I mean, yes sir!”

“NAME!”

“Conny Springer, sir!”

Sadies stood directly in front of Conny and glared down at the boy. “Is something funny?”

“Uh….no sir, not at all!” Conny winced as he said it, clearly already knowing that he was done for.

“WRONG! IT IS FUNNY! FIFTY LAPS, NOW!”

Conny managed to suppress a groan and obediently took off.

Eren watched all this unfold with amusement. It seemed not everyone was cut out to be a soldier.

* * *

Armin let out a sigh as he relaxed his shoulders. They had just been dismissed for the day, following an exhaustive fitness trial that pushed everyone to their limits. Eren and Mikasa joined him as they made their way to the mess hall for dinner.

“Commandant Sadies sure didn’t like me,” Armin tiredly said.

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Eren said. “He only yelled at you for your posture. At least you had the pose correct. Man, he really tore into that Franz dude about that.”

“Eren’s right,” Mikasa said reassuringly. “Besides, we have three years to improve.”

Armin wasn’t entirely sure he’d make it that long, however. As soon as all three of them were thirteen years old, they had enlisted in the Cadet Corp. Comprising 200 Divisions made of 100 cadets each from all over Eldia, the 20,000 young recruits would train for three years before graduating at the age of sixteen and joining either the Military Police or the Garrison.

Of course, most wouldn’t make it. Approximately 80% were expected to either voluntarily leave or fail out. In fact, the failure rate was so bad that an estimated 40% of Year 848’s Training Corp had been previously enlisted. Despite the rigid training program that encouraged the weak to voluntarily drop out, many would return the following year to avoid working in the fields.

“Don’t forget, we start with ODM gear tomorrow,” Eren suddenly said. “It’ll be awesome!”

Armin shook himself out of his thoughts. He couldn’t afford to worry about making it through the next three years. He would just have to push through, and hope he could keep up with Eren and Mikasa. 

* * *

“You were in Shiganshina?”

“Yeah,” Eren responded to Reiner Braun’s question. The trio was seated in the mess hall eating with some of their fellow cadets. “I saw both of the Alpha Titans that broke through the walls there myself. Same with Mikasa and Armin here.”

Bertholdt Hoover shook his head gravely. “I can’t imagine it. Our village wasn’t too far from Shiganshina, so we were one of the first places to get the news. It was absolute madness. Some messengers came running through, talking about Maria being breached, and within 24 hours, we were swarmed by thousands of refugees.”

“You both came from the same village?” Armin asked curiously.

“Yeah,” Reiner responded as he folded his arms over his chest. “Bertholdt and I grew up together there.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet some fellow southerners then,” Eren said as he held out his hand. Reiner reached out and clasped it, giving it a firm shake.

“Likewise. How many of us here do you think are from Wall Maria?”

Eren glanced at Armin, who answered for him. “I’d guess about 60% of us. Our only other option was working in the fields, since we lost our homes.”

“That sounds about right,” Reiner responded. “These Rose and Sina citizens that joined probably won’t be as invested as we are. If they quit, at least they still have homes to go back to.”

Bertholdt nodded along with what Reiner was saying. “That’s why we joined,” he stated, his voice full of conviction. “We just want to go home.”

“Is that why you guys joined?” Reiner asked. “So you can go home?”

Eren froze as the image of his mother being devoured flashed in his mind. After a moment, he regained his composure and tightened his fists. He growled out his answer. “I joined so that I can kill Titans.”

Reiner’s eyebrows shot up. “Really,” he said quietly.

“Yeah,” Eren said as anger started to overtake him. “They took everything from us. They stole our home, and killed my mom. I won’t stop till every last one of them is dead!” He began to raise his voice as he continued. “Especially the Alpha Titans. I’ll kill all 8 of them myself if I have to!”

Voices at nearby tables fell silent at Eren’s outburst.

“Wow,” Reiner said. “You’ve got a lot of ambition, I’ll give you that.”

“Ha! I think you’re crazy,” called out Jean Kirschtein, who shook his head in amusement. “Sounds like a good way to get yourself killed.”

“Oh yeah?” Eren said as he got to his feet. “Just wait until I actually do it!”

“I’ll see it when I believe it,” Jean responded with a smirk on his face. 

Seated next to him, his peace-keeper friend Marco Bodt tried to tell Jean to back down, recognizing a fight waiting to happen. “It’s not worth it,” he mumbled.

Eren strode towards Jean while Mikasa got to her feet and followed him, ready to intervene.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait until then,” Eren said as he glared at Jean. “Cause I _will_ kill Titans.”

“Famous last words,” Jean replied dismissively.

Before anyone knew it, Eren and Jean were on the ground punching each other. People began to crowd around them, eager for a fight. 

Armin watched apprehensively, not getting up from his seat while Mikasa rolled her eyes and stepped towards the two combatants, preparing to separate them.

A voice came from behind him. “Does he really think he can kill an Alpha Titan?”

Armin turned to find a sullen-faced girl staring at the fight. “Um, were you talking to me?” 

The girl, Annie Leonhart, turned to Armin and frowned, as if she had just noticed his presence. “No, I was talking to myself, idiot.”

“Oh, sorry,” Armin said, feeling mildly embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to bother you.”

Annie didn’t respond, so Armin decided to try being friendly. “So, uh, where are you from?”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Alright kid, leave me alone, OK?” She got up and walked away, leaving Armin to turn and find Mikasa dragging Eren away from his fight, while Jean lay on the ground clutching his face.

“Bastard!” Jean yelled. “Broke my damn nose!”

“Serves you right!” Eren called out as he wrestled out of Mikasa’s grip. He turned on her with an annoyed expression. “I had it under control.”

“No, you didn’t,” Mikasa said firmly. “We’re in the military now, you can’t afford to be an idiot anymore.”

“Idiot?” Eren said incredulously. “What about him?”

“Eren,” Mikasa sighed. “There’s no need to go picking fights with our fellow cadets. We’re all fighting for the same thing.”

“Then he should act like it!” Eren scoffed as he turned to stalk out of the mess hall. “We’ll see how big his mouth is tomorrow when he can’t even operate ODM gear!”

* * *

“What the hell?!” Eren yelled as he toppled over for the third time. He hit his head on the ground and dangled helplessly from the suspended ODM gear.

Several of the assembled cadets had to suppress chuckles at the sight of the enraged boy. It was the next day, and everyone was trying out ODM gear for the first time. Some, like Mikasa and Reiner, had figured it out immediately and were commended by Sadies. Others, like Eren, seemed to lack any sense of balance whatsoever.

“I guess it’s just not for everyone,” Jean remarked snidely. He had shown considerable talent on his first try, and found it highly amusing that Eren was struggling so much after all his talk.

Eren groaned as he got to his feet once again. Sadies sighed dismissively and waved Eren on. “Next cadet, come on, let’s go.”

“Wait, sir! Let me try one more time, please!” Eren said desperately.

Sadies shook his head. “Sorry Jaeger, some people just aren’t cut out to be soldiers. Next!”

Eren furiously disentangled himself from the suspended ODM gear and got back into formation, pointedly ignoring the stares coming from everyone else.

* * *

Eren yelled in anger as he threw another punch, sinking his fist into the tree trunk without holding back. It hurt, but it paled in comparison to the utter humiliation of not being able to balance properly.

Mikasa watched with resignation. Armin had gone on ahead to dinner, determined to meet some of the other cadets.

Not Mikasa. She decided to stay and watch over Eren, in case he ended up hurting himself. Which, by the sound of it, he just had.

“Eren, I understand being angry, but taking it out on the tree won’t help you feel better.”

Eren grimaced in pain as he retracted his hand. He didn’t want to admit it, but pounding a tree with his bare fists did hurt.

“What do you care,” he muttered under his breath. 

Mikasa sighed and raised her hand, playing with the end of her scarf. “I care that you’re making it worse for yourself,” she said hesitantly. Saying the wrong thing could set him off, and an enraged Eren was the last thing she wanted. “Maybe tomorrow you and I can stick around after practice and try out the ODM gear one-on-one. I can help you learn how to balance properly.”

Eren groaned at the idea. “I don’t need your help, I’m fine on my own.”

“That’s not what it looked like out there today,” she countered. Eren rounded on her with an angry expression.

“Gee, thanks!” He sarcastically shot back. “And I suppose you’d know, since you’re perfect at pretty much everything you do, aren’t you?”

Mikasa dropped her hand to her side and frowned, hurt crossing her face. “That’s not true, and you know it.”

Eren didn’t look her way as he stalked off, heading in the direction of the mess hall. Mikasa remained behind for several minutes, staring at the tree Eren had been punching. She walked up to it and examined it. After a moment, she drew back her fists and began to systematically punch the tree.

She continued for several minutes, growing increasingly more frustrated. With a final yell, she landed one final punch and retracted her fist.

She didn’t feel much better than when she had started.

“Why can’t he just….not hate me?” She said to no one.

The only sound that answered her was the faint rustling of the leaves overhead.

* * *

**One Year Later**

“Hey, Mikasa! Over here!”

Mikasa jumped from her perch on the branch of a tall tree and activated her ODM gear. With a high-pitched release of gas, two cables were fired out that embedded themselves in another nearby tree, allowing her to descend rapidly to the ground. Landing carefully, she made her way over to Ymir Fritz, who had called her name. Standing next to Ymir was her constant companion, Christa Lenz. 

“Yeah?” Mikasa asked, glancing over her shoulder for the watchful eyes of Sadies, who never took kindly to cadets straying from their exercises during ODM practice.

“What’s Eren’s deal anyway? I mean, look at him!” Ymir gestured towards Eren, who was trying to unwind the cables of his ODM gear which he had managed to wrap around a tree several times. “Like, why hasn’t he just quit by now like everyone else who can’t work the gear? You’re always hanging around him, so I figured you’d know.”

Mikasa glared at Ymir, who had a lazy smirk on her face. Ymir, like everyone, had of course noticed Mikasa’s attachment to Eren, how she never left his side unless she had to. She was simply trying to get a rise out of the 104th’s star cadet.

“Eren refuses to give up,” Mikasa replied matter-of-factly. “Even when everything is against him, he’ll ignore all sense of logic in single-minded ambition to get what he wants.”

“See, told you,” Christa said to Ymir. “Eren’s just stubborn, that’s all.”

“I don’t know if I’d call that ambition,” Ymir said slyly. “More like trying to get himself killed.”

Before Mikasa could respond, Christa smacked Ymir’s arm and scowled. “Cut it out, you’re being mean!”

“More like I’m being realistic,” Ymir said as she shrugged. “What’s the point in just throwing your life away?”

After a moment, Mikasa shook her head. “I can’t say I disagree with you. But what Eren does with his life is his decision. I just know that whatever he does, I’ll be there by his side.”

Ymir scoffed in response while Christa gave Mikasa a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Aw, that’s sweet. I bet he’d do the same for you too.”

Mikasa looked glumly at the ground. “No, he wouldn’t.” She activated her ODM gear and took off into the trees, leaving Christa behind with a confused expression and Ymir doubling over in laughter.

“That’s hilarious!” Ymir managed to get out, while Christa rounded on her in protest. 

“What’s so funny about wanting to protect your friends?” Christa demanded as she folded her arms.

“Ha!” Ymir laughed, casually throwing an arm around Christa’s shoulders. “You’re cute, Christa. Don’t you see it? Mikasa’s relationship with Eren is downright toxic. She gives everything to him, and he barely acknowledges her! Of course I’d find it funny!”

Christa shrugged off Ymir and drew her face into a pout. “You’re teasing me again!”

“Yep!” Ymir responded with a smirk. “You just make it too easy for me, darling!”

Christa scoffed and fired her ODM gear, following Mikasa. After a moment, Ymir set off after them with a grin on her face.

* * *

Armin raised his hand to answer Instructor Nanaba’s question, feeling right at home in the daily academic class all cadets in the 104th were required to attend. By comparison, he fared rather poorly in the physical aspects of training, especially with endurance-based activities. In fact, he had nearly collapsed out of exhaustion in the most recent long-distance exercise, barely making it to the end of the full 30-mile course. It was only a last-minute burst of willpower that had pushed him through the final mile, allowing him to keep his place in the 104th.

“Well, in terms of retaking Wall Maria,” Armin began, “the destroyed sections of the wall in each of the four cities represents the biggest challenge. We’d have to transport massive amounts of heavy resources across Titan-infested lands, and even if we made it back to the cities, it would take months to rebuild a brand new section of the wall from the ground up.”

“But Armin,” Nanaba countered, “wouldn’t the threat of the Alpha Titans be more significant?” 

“No, I don’t think so,” Armin mused. “They haven’t reappeared in the past four years since the attacks, and even if they did, now that we know what to expect, I believe we’d be able to come up with strategies to counter each of them.”

These debates weren’t abnormal to Armin’s classmates. Soon after the class had begun a year before, Nanaba had quickly figured out that Armin possessed a remarkably bright mind, and had taken to prodding discussion out of him. It was always a treat to hear Armin’s ideas, and even more so when other cadets would join in discussions.

She would still call on random people though, and that day, she called on a certain reclusive cadet who was not in the mood for attention. 

“Annie, what do you think? Agree, or disagree with Armin’s statement?”

Annie glanced at Armi before reluctantly answering. “Disagree, ma’am. Arlelt’s statement makes no sense.”

“Oh really?” Nanaba said curiously. “Care to explain?” She sat back, interested to see where this discussion would lead.

Annie had to resist rolling her eyes. “The Alpha Titans are far beyond anything we could ever hope to defeat. All 8 of them are far larger than even the largest normal Titans, and conventional weaponry was completely ineffective against them.” Annie fell silent momentarily, seemingly lost in memory, before continuing. “I was in Holst District in the east, where Scylla and Methuselah attacked. I can assure you, Arlelt. You aren’t taking down either of them.”

Armin shook his head. “Well, you’re right in one regard. We wouldn’t stand a chance in direct physical combat against them. That’s why we don’t fight them at all.”

Annie’s eyes widened slightly before quickly being replaced by her signature bored expression. “Huh? So what, you’d just surrender?”

“No,” Armin explained patiently. “I’d set a trap. Methuselah was reported as being the largest of the 8 Alpha Titans, standing 75 meters tall, and over 150 meters long. The problem is, it’s so large, its movement was heavily restricted. This is despite its abnormally low weight, a trait all the Alpha Titans appear to share with normal Titans. For a creature of Methuselah’s size, it should be thousands of tons, but estimates conducted by scientist Hange Zoë based on eyewitness descriptions show that it could be as low as 50!”

Armin’s eyes began to gleam as his tone became passionate. “What I propose is waiting until winter, then attracting Methuselah to the northern regions, specifically, to that giant lake northeast of Orvud. The ice there, which exceeds over a meter in thickness during especially cold winters, would be strong enough to support its weight, and so we’d lure it out onto the ice, then use explosives to break the ice and sink it into the lake!”

Annie stared in bafflement at Armin, her bored expression long gone.

“Well,” Nanaba interrupted. “That would be dependent on Methuselah reappearing, and it taking the bait, but it's certainly an interesting idea. I see no flaws in the actual science behind it. Well said, Armin. Better luck next time, Annie.”

Chuckles came from around the classroom, and despite pretending not to care, Annie felt her face heat up in embarrassment. Armin, to his credit, appeared slightly embarrassed as well, rubbing the back of his neck and shrugging his shoulders.

Annie narrowed her eyes. She’d show Armin after class why he shouldn’t have done that.

* * *

Armin waved goodbye to Marco and Jean as he set off towards the barracks after class. While most of his fellow cadets liked to congregate at the mess hall on academic days, Armin liked to take the time off to stop by the nearby town’s library. He would always make sure to check the stockpile of newspapers for reports from all around Eldia. Keeping himself well-informed on as many topics as possible was a never-ending mission that he embraced with enthusiasm.

He was particularly hoping that there would be more news about the apparent power crisis taking place in the highest levels of the royal government at the moment. Sub-Commander Erwin Smith was set to be promoted to Commander of the Military Police, but he had turned down the promotion, saying that-

“HYAH!”

Armin felt rather than saw the kick that connected with the small of his back, sending him tumbling forward into the dirt. With a groan, he turned to face his attacker, only to be kicked squarely in the jaw.

“That was for embarrassing me.”

Armin recognized the voice immediately. “Annie?” He asked as pain spiked across his face.

Armin felt Annie grab hold of his hair and yank his head up to face her. He found himself staring directly into her cold expression while she spoke.

“Don’t do that again,” she growled warningly.

“What? What did I do?” Armin managed to say. It had been a while since he’d been physically attacked, and he had to say, he hadn’t missed it.

“Drawing attention to me like that. I thought I told you to stay away from me.”

Armin couldn’t help but roll his eyes, despite the danger. “But I have stayed away from you. You’re not making sense, Annie.”

With a growl of anger, Annie flipped Armin over her body and slammed him down into the ground, drawing a moan of pain from the boy. “Don’t smart off to me. Want me to keep going?”

Armin managed to climb to his feet, and he turned to face Annie. Keeping his hands at his sides, he bravely squared his jaw and looked her dead in the eye.

“Go ahead,” he declared. “I’m not running away from this. Feel free to keep pounding me, if that’s what you enjoy. I may be weak, especially compared to you, but I can take the hits. Eventually, you’ll end up as bored as you pretend to be all day, and you’ll leave me alone. All I have to do is wait until you stop caring.”

Annie narrowed her eyes in confusion. “As bored as I pretend to be? Don’t tell me you’re really that dumb, or you won’t have anything going for you.”

Armin shrugged his shoulders and gave a wry smile, bracing himself for another hit. “You can try and deny it, but if you really didn’t care, I wouldn’t be getting beat up right now.”

Annie froze, caught completely off guard. A moment later, she sprang forward, her fist aimed squarely for Armin’s gut.

It connected satisfyingly, drawing a gasp from Armin, who doubled over and placed his hands on his knees. After a moment, he gathered his courage and straightened back up, facing Annie once again. She stared at him, utterly confused. Why was he making it worse for himself? For such a smart kid, he was acting incredibly dumb.

With a yell, she launched forward again, this time aiming for Armin’s face.

Armin closed his eyes and tensed his body, ready to absorb the blow.

It never came.

Armin opened his eyes to find Annie’s clenched fist frozen an inch in front of his face. He glanced around her knuckles and stared in confusion at Annie, whose expression looked vaguely….impressed?

She drew back her fist and folded her arms, glaring at him with an air of suspicion. After a moment, she shook her head in resignation and sighed.

“I still think you’re a smartass, but you’re a lot tougher than you look, I’ll give you that.”

Armin blinked. That almost sounded like begrudging respect in her tone.

He wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so he just shrugged and said what he was thinking. “I’m not a fighter, but I know enough about combat to recognize that you’re highly skilled. If you wanted me dead, I would be.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Look, just don’t call attention to me in class like that again, alright?”

After a moment of tense silence, Armin decided to just agree with her and be done with it. “Deal.” He held out his hand.

Annie glanced down at his outstretched hand. “Good,” she said as she pointedly turned and walked away, leaving him to awkwardly pull his hand back.

As he rubbed his jaw, sure that the kick he had received would leave a bruise, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. He was sore from the beating, but if he wasn’t going insane, he was pretty sure he’d just earned Annie’s respect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My goal with this chapter and the next is to introduce all the cadets and their personalities, and I hope it got off to a good start here.
> 
> I made a minor change by having them begin training at the age of 13, so when they graduate, they’re 16, not 15. 
> 
> Eventually (like way down the line), romance will be explored between Christa/Ymir and Annie/Armin, so I’m setting up some of that stuff early so that it doesn’t feel forced later on. Eren/Mikasa will also eventually be something I’ll get into as well, but they both have a lot of character growth they need to undergo first, so don’t expect that stuff anytime soon.
> 
> Thoughts and comments are always appreciated!
> 
> -AlphaBeta17 (5/5/20)


	4. Forming Bonds

**Two Years Later**

Eren watched as Sadies began his morning routine of yelling at him and his fellow cadets. After almost three years of this, he could admit that he was quite used to it at this point.

"In one month, we will hold your final test," Sadies barked. "An obstacle course stretching across 50 miles of the most desolate, barren landscape in all of Eldia, you will each have 5 hours to complete the course unaided. It will test your physical endurance, your ability to navigate rough terrain, and of course, your skill, or lack thereof, with ODM gear."

There were only 25 cadets left of what had once been 100 in the 104th Division of the Training Corp. By now, most had displayed considerable skill with ODM gear. Eren was one of the exceptions. He had managed to cling on through sheer determination, but even he knew that sooner or later, if he didn't improve, he would be kicked out of the 104th.

"Those of you that pass will graduate from the Training Corp and be admitted to the Garrison Regiment. You'll be assigned to Trost District, Crimson Squad, and will be responsible for wall patrol for the next few years, after which you'll be able to advance to more prestigious callings in the military of Eldia."

Eren narrowed his eyes. Wall patrol. If he managed to graduate, he'd be exactly where he wanted to be. Wall patrol was the closest you could get to the Titans, and it was what Eren had been hoping for.

"But first, you have to actually pass, and unfortunately, I doubt more than half of you will make it," Sadies said with an air of superiority. "Those of you that make it, however, will have my unending respect. DISMISSED!"

The 25 cadets relaxed and began to wander in various directions, planning to take advantage of one of their few rest days. Eren, however, immediately walked up to Reiner and Bertholdt.

"Oi, Reiner, Bertholdt!" Eren called out. Both of them turned and raised their hands in greeting.

"Hey, Eren, what's up?" Reiner asked with a grin. "Before you ask, no, I'm not giving you any dating tips."

Eren rolled his eyes playfully. "If I wanted dating advice, I'd go to Franz. Didn't Christa turn you down big time?"

Reiner groaned in mock anger while Bertholdt chuckled. "Don't make me smash right through you. Christa and I both agreed to wait until after graduation, you'll see!"

Eren raised his eyebrows and gave Reiner a droll look. "OK, whatever you say man. I actually wanted to ask if you'd show me some moves on the ODM gear."

Reiner's expression turned serious. "You really want to go all the way? There's no shame in backing out now; hell, three-fourths of the 104th is gone already!"

Eren set his jaw and nodded firmly. "This is what I want to do with my life, and you two are some of the best in the class. Plus, you're always willing to help anyone out. There's a reason nobody dislikes you two."

Bertholdt glanced at Reiner, who shrugged. "Sure. Hey, think Armin would want to join us? Nothing against him, but he could use the extra practice as well."

Eren grinned. "If I know Armin, I think he'd agree with you on that."

* * *

"Just like that! Yeah!" Reiner whooped as Eren successfully performed a fairly tricky ODM move. Swinging low towards the ground, it involved releasing the ascension cables to allow oneself to fly underneath a low hanging object, and then firing the cables on the other side and rising back up into the air, all while in motion.

Eren landed on a tree branch next to Bertholdt and high-fived him with a broad grin. "I've never been able to pull that one off before," he admitted. "Feels pretty good."

A pair of cables struck the tree next to them and Armin flew past, taking advantage of his lighter size and perching on one of the higher branches.

"Hey, no using your skinny ass as an edge, it ain't fair to us bigger guys!" Reiner yelled in amusement from the ground. Armin chuckled and jumped, descending rapidly down to Reiner and landing next to him.

"Hey, you were the one who said to use whatever I could to my advantage," Armin said snarkily. "It's not my fault if you're on the beefy side."

Reiner folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow at Armin. "Did you just call me fat?"

"Uh….no?" Armin said as worry crossed his face.

Reiner stared at Armin for several seconds before bursting out into laughter. Armin nervously laughed with him while Eren and Bertholdt descended to the ground.

"Hey Reiner," Eren called out. "Thanks again for the tip on that move back there."

"Yeah, no problem," Reiner said as he patted Eren on the back. "If I end up as a unit leader, I'll try to get you and Armin, promise."

Eren's grin slowly faded. "Well, thanks, but don't hold your breath on that happening."

"Really? How come?" Bertholdt asked curiously. "Reiner's one of the best in the class, there's no way he doesn't make the top three."

"No, it's not that," Eren said as he gave Armin a knowing look, who immediately understood what Eren was talking about.

"He means Mikasa," he told Reiner and Bertholdt, who both realized what Eren meant.

"Oh, I see," Bertholdt said carefully. "You think she'll be a unit leader, and pick you right away?"

"Yeah," Eren said despondently. "She always wants to be near me, insisting that she needs to protect me. We're not kids anymore, and I don't need protecting, but she doesn't seem to understand that!"

Reiner glanced at Bertholdt before responding. "Well, I can't say I've spent a lot of time around Mikasa, but she seems to have good intentions. She is the best of us, after all. What do you have against her, anyway?"

Eren's expression shifted, taking on a darker note. "Nothing," he said as he turned to walk off.

"Hey!" Reiner yelled, causing Armin to jump in surprise while Bertholdt looked vaguely uncomfortable. Eren turned and glared at Reiner, who glowered back at him in much the same way an older brother would.

"Don't act like a child, you're better than that," Reiner said with an edge to his voice. "Mikasa hasn't done anything to deserve this kind of treatment."

Eren looked like he wanted to lash out in anger, but looking up at his friend who he deeply respected, he managed to hold his tongue.

"I'll take that under consideration," he mumbled before stalking away. Bertholdt breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Armin and Reiner.

"Well, that could have gone a lot worse," he remarked. "At least he didn't start throwing fists like he would have with Jean."

"It's because he looks up to you two," Armin said as he glanced at Eren's retreating back with worry. "That's all that stopped him from going berserk on you guys."

"What's his deal, anyway?" Reiner asked. "You grew up with Eren, so I imagine you know him best."

A look of sadness crossed Armin's face. "Let's just say there's a reason he acts like he hates her, and why she's always trying to hang around him, even though he treats her so badly."

"He doesn't dislike her?" Bertholdt said with a raised eyebrow.

Armin sighed. Nothing ever got past Bertholdt. The towering boy's quiet nature hid a highly observant side; which, when paired with Reiner's natural charisma and leadership skills, made the duo a highly respected team in the 104th.

"If I tell you guys, do you promise to keep it a secret?" Armin relented.

"Yeah, of course," Reiner said while Bertholdt nodded solemnly.

"Alright," Armin began. "It happened when we were nine, a year before the Alpha Titans attacked…."

* * *

Jean, Marco, Conny, and Sasha all watched from the ground while Mikasa flew through the air with her ODM gear, twisting and turning with a level of skill they could only dream of ever reaching. She drew her swords and slashed at the dummy Titan as she flew past, sending pieces of its rubber nape flying through the air. With an elegant turn in midair, she fired her cables and swung down to land next to the others.

Conny whistled in admiration while Marco politely clapped. Sasha grinned widely and held out a hand, which Mikasa high-fived with a small smile. "Thanks, guys," she said appreciatively.

"Don't mention it. You're definitely gonna be ranked first," Marco said happily. "Thanks for letting us sit in and watch you practice."

"No problem," she said as she took off her gas canisters and slung them over her back. "Though I'm not sure I'll be ranked first. Reiner and Jean both have a shot as well."

Jean smirked at Mikasa's comment. "Yeah, it'll be a pity that no matter what happens, we won't be in the same unit, since we'll both have our own units to lead. I guess we'll have to spend time together outside of work." Jean threw an arm around Mikasa's shoulders, whose eyes widened.

Conny and Sasha glanced at each other with barely concealed amusement. They knew exactly what was coming. Marco, on the other hand, sighed in exasperation. He was good friends with Jean, but his antics drove Marco crazy.

Mikasa blinked, and then grabbed Jean and flung him over her head, slamming him down on the ground behind her. Conny and Sasha both burst out into laughter while Marco rolled his eyes.

Mikasa glared down at Jean while he groaned and sat up, rubbing his forehead from where it had struck the ground. "I thought I told you not to do that," she said dismissively.

"Sorry," Jean said in a tone that didn't sound sorry at all. "I just thought that-"

"Jean," Marco cried out in exasperation. "Don't make it worse for yourself. Just shut up and say sorry."

"I did!" Jean said indignantly.

Sasha grinned broadly as Conny elbowed her and whispered something in her ear. "Hey Jean," she said with a smirk, "are you trying to outdo Eren in being the one who ends up on their ass the most?"

"Hey!" Jean yelled as he got to his feet. "Don't compare me to that suicidal maniac, I'm just trying to be friendly!"

"Maybe a little too friendly," Conny mumbled to Sasha, who cackled while Jean's face grew red. Mikasa watched all this unfold with an unamused expression.

"Now, listen here, shorty," Jean said as he started striding towards Conny. "I'm not the one always sucking up to idiot potato girl!"

Sasha's eyes widened in anger while hurt crossed Conny's face. "Back off, horse face!" Sasha yelled. "You can't talk to us like that!"

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" Jean said as he cocked back his fist.

"No!" Marco yelled as he grabbed Jean's arm and twisted it behind his back. "Stop acting like an idiot! No wonder you don't get along with Eren, you act exactly like him!"

Mikasa rolled her eyes. "As far as I'm concerned, you're all idiots," she said as she turned and walked away. Jean shrugged out of Marco's grasp and glared at him.

"Great, look what you did!" Jean said in annoyance.

Marco raised his eyebrows. "Really? Me? What about you?"

"Me? What did I do?"

Sasha turned to Conny and grabbed his elbow. "Come on, let's go get something to eat. We don't have to deal with this." The two left Jean and Marco to their bickering.

* * *

**One Month Later**

"Hey, Annie!"

Annie ignored Eren and continued with her exercises. Eren turned to Reiner and Bertholdt and shrugged helplessly. Reiner gave him a reassuring nod and stepped forward.

"Annie, could we ask you something?"

Annie stopped hitting the punching bag and turned to Reiner with an unreadable expression. After a moment, she shrugged. "No." She returned to her exercises, leaving Reiner standing awkwardly.

"Well, uh, you see, Annie, Eren here was wondering if you could show him some of your moves, since the final is tomorrow, and Bertholdt and I thought that you could show us as well, and so…."

Annie still didn't respond.

Laughter came from behind Eren, and he turned to find Ymir doubled over while Christa stood by her side. "Still as dumb as ever, I see," she cackled. "Haven't you figured out by now that Annie doesn't talk to anyone?"

Eren's brows furrowed. "Yeah, well she should stop acting like she's better than all of us! We're all going to be fighting Titans together soon, so we should be helping each other out!"

Annie sighed and dropped her hands to her side, turning to face Eren. "We aren't going to be fighting Titans, Eren. We'll be stationed on top of the wall as glorified lookouts, that's all. To pretend otherwise is foolish."

Eren balled his fists at his side. "That's what everyone thought for a century, until the Alpha Titans showed up. They don't care what we think, they just appeared, and we have to be ready to fight them if they show up again!"

Annie scoffed. "Alright, here's the deal. I'll fight you once, and if you beat me, I'll show you a few moves. If I win, you leave me alone."

Eren smirked. "Deal!" He backed up a few steps and cocked his fists. "I'm letting you know up front, I won't hold back on you just because you're a girl."

Annie raised her eyebrows. "Really," she said dryly. "Good to know." She raised her fists and held them in front of her. "I'm waiting," she said with a bored tone.

Eren charged at her with a yell and took a swing. Annie dodged out of the way at the last second and struck with her fist, catching Eren square in the face. Without stopping, she kicked Eren's kneecap and struck his chest with an open-handed blow, sending him tumbling to the ground, the wind knocked out of him.

Eren gasped for air as she stood over him with a disdainful expression. "I win. Now leave me alone."

Eren shook his head. "No," he said as he slowly got to his feet, his words coming in between gasps of air. "Let's go again, that was really good. How did you do that?"

Annie sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Reiner's eyes widened. "No, Annie, wait!"

Annie ignored him and struck, swinging her legs around and kicking Eren's feet out from under him. He landed heavily on the dirt and cried out as Annie landed a final kick directly to the back of his head.

Bertholdt winced uncomfortably while Reiner groaned. Even Ymir didn't laugh as Eren moaned in pain from the ground.

"Hey, take it easy!" Christa called. Annie turned and glared at the small girl, who didn't back down. "That wasn't necessary. You made your point, there's no need to hurt him!"

Annie shrugged. "Do I look like I care? I don't need some 10-year old telling me what's right and wrong."

Ymir stepped forward angrily. "Hey, apologize to her now!"

Annie stared up at Ymir and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure thing," she said as she turned to Christa. "I apologize for referring to your majesty as a child, despite your utter naivete indicating that you are one."

Ymir huffed in anger and tried to strike Annie, but quickly found herself on the ground next to Eren. "Nice try," he muttered.

Reiner stepped in with the intention to put an end to the fighting. "OK Annie, that's enough, I think-"

Bertholdt stepped back as Annie flipped the much larger boy over her head and slammed him into the ground. He held up his hands in surrender as she turned to look at him.

"Good," she said as she walked away, leaving Eren, Reiner, and Ymir to pick themselves up with Bertholdt and Christa's help.

"I'm reporting her to Commandant Sadies," Christa seethed as Ymir gingerly touched the back of her head and winced, a large bump already forming.

"Don't bother," Reiner said as he grabbed Bertholdt's hand and was hoisted to his feet. "We were the ones who bothered her."

"But she can't just go around doing stuff like that!" Christa cried as she fussed over Ymir.

"It's not worth it," Ymir said as she waved Christa off. "If she wants everyone to hate her, that's her problem, not ours."

* * *

Armin wiped his forehead as he pressed down on the release valve carefully. Gas began to quickly flow out of the canister, but in a much softer capacity than normal. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly depressed the valve. He set down the ODM gear and wrote down another note.

'Gas release controllable = possible to strengthen in a particular direction?'

Armin reached carefully back into the open ODM gear and disconnected the firing mechanism for the ascension cables. If his idea was going to work, he'd need to find a way to reconfigure the internal workings to be able to fire gas purely as a propellant.

Armin looked up as someone entered the commissary.

"Hey, Annie!" He greeted with a smile. She stopped in front of her locker and raised her eyebrows briefly at him. After a moment, she gestured questioningly at the ODM gear that lay partially disassembled on the table.

"Oh, I'm just fiddling with my ODM gear in my spare time, that's all," Armin replied nonchalantly.

"I don't care _what_ you're doing, I'm wondering _why_ ," Annie said bluntly. "You know we aren't allowed to open up the gear."

Armin shrugged. "Nobody really cares. Nanaba knows, and she hasn't stopped me yet. Besides, I never thought you would be one to care about the rules."

"I never said I did."

Armin grinned. "Then why do you care what I'm up to? Seems to clash with your bottom line."

Annie scoffed at Armin and walked forward, glancing down at his many drawings. "I don't care," she said quietly.

Armin shook his head. "That may work on everyone else, but someone who doesn't care wouldn't have joined the military in the first place."

Annie stared silently at Armin for a moment before sighing. "I have my reasons."

"What are they?" Armin asked.

Annie shook her head and took a deep breath. "Armin, why are you even talking to me? Everyone else knows to stay away from me, yet as soon as I come in here, you greet me like you would anyone else. You don't even dislike me for attacking you a couple of years ago. It made no sense since Nanaba was the one who called on me, but you forgave me immediately, even though I didn't ask you to."

Armin thought for a minute before answering. "First off, congratulations on the most I've ever heard you say at once." Annie groaned while Armin continued, undeterred.

"But I guess it's because I don't think you're as bad as you try and make yourself seem."

Annie digested that information with a strange expression on her face. "What if I am as bad as I seem?"

Armin shrugged. "I guess I don't care," he said thoughtfully. "We all mess up, and to judge people by their worst mistakes seems rather counterproductive."

Annie stared at Armin with what could almost be described as remorse. She looked away and turned to her locker, opening it and pulling out her ODM gear. "You're a strange boy, Armin," she said softly. "You're too caring for your own good. It'll come back to haunt you one day, if you're not careful."

Armin half-smiled and tried to make a joke. "Well, when that day comes, you'll be able to say 'I told you so.'"

Annie turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "When that day comes, I won't want to." She walked out the door, leaving Armin alone with his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter, like the last one, was relatively light on plot, but I felt it was rather important to establish all 12 of the major characters (Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt, Jean, Marco, Sasha, Conny, Ymir, and Christa) before getting to the action stuff in Trost.
> 
> Eren here is intentionally written to be a lot meaner to Mikasa here than he was in canon, and the explanation for that is coming, don't worry. ;)
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> -AlphaBeta17 (5/12/20)


	5. Crimson Squad

104th Division Graduate Ranking

  1. Mikasa Ackermann
  2. Jean Kirschtein
  3. Reiner Braun
  4. Bertholdt Hoover
  5. Thomas Wagner
  6. Marco Bodt
  7. Annie Leonhart
  8. Sasha Braus
  9. Nack Tierce
  10. Ymir Fritz
  11. Franz Kefka
  12. Hannah Diament
  13. Mina Carolina
  14. Conny Springer
  15. Christa Lenz
  16. Armin Arlelt
  17. Milieus Zeremski
  18. Eren Jaeger



* * *

Eren sat glumly on a bench overlooking the 104th compound. He had graduated, but in dead last among his fellow cadets. The worst part was, he had only himself to blame. During the final test, he had misread the map and ended up miles off course. As a result, he had finished with only a minute to spare.

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it,” Armin said kindly from beside him. “You made it, and that’s what matters.”

“I know,” Eren said with a scowl. “I just….I should have done better.”

Armin remained quiet for a minute, seemingly trying to figure out the right thing to say. Finally, it came to him.

“Eren. Your mother would be proud of you, and how far you’ve come.”

Eren glanced at Armin, who had a pensive look on his face. “How do you know that?” Eren asked, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

“The same way I know my grandfather would be proud of me,” Armin said softly. “They cared for us, and would be proud that we’re fighting to protect others.”

Eren looked down guiltily. The only reason he had joined was to kill Titans in revenge. It was an inherently selfish motive. Armin, on the other hand, had joined for selfless reasons. He wanted to protect others, including Eren and Mikasa, even if he was physically weaker than them.

“I’m not like you, Armin. I’m not here for that. I’m here to fight back against those monsters.”

Armin shook his head. “Eren. That’s as good a reason as any. I hate the way we live as well, I just choose not to let it define me.”

Armin stood and looked down at Eren. “Like I said. Don’t beat yourself up too badly. We’re going to Trost in a couple of weeks, to the frontlines. It’s what you wanted, right?”

Eren sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.” He stood up and gave Armin a wry grin. “As usual.”

Armin shook his head in amusement. “I’m not always right. Just most of the time.”

Eren couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’d hate to be there when you’re not right.”

“Me too, Eren. Me too.”

* * *

“Annie, Armin, Conny, and Sasha. I just want to say I’m glad to have all of you in my Unit, and I appreciate all four of you accepting my invitations. Bertholdt, of course, will be my second-in-command, and I hope that together, the six of us will be serving together for years to come.” Reiner couldn’t keep the broad grin off his face as he spoke to his Unit around the campfire. As one of the top three ranked cadets, he was assigned to be a leader of one of the three Units that would comprise Crimson Squad, and had taken to the assignment with enthusiasm. He had immediately decided that they should all go camping to ‘bond as a Unit’ and Armin had to admit, he was enjoying himself so far, despite neither Eren nor Mikasa belonging to Reiner’s Unit.

“It’s our honor, sir,” Armin said respectfully. “I look forward to serving under you.”

“Ha!” Conny laughed while Sasha giggled at his side. “No need to be all formal, Armin, we’re all friends here, right Annie?” Conny went to elbow Annie, but stopped at the last second when she gave him a death glare.

“Conny, we’re still friends, but when we’re on duty, we’ll all need to act professionally.” Reiner’s tone took on an authoritative note, and Conny immediately straightened his posture in response. 

Reiner grinned. “But we’re not on duty right now, so feel free to relax.”

Armin chuckled while they all sat down around the campfire. Sasha and Conny immediately set about to chatting with Reiner and Bertholdt, while Armin was content to listen in quietly.

“I have to say, thanks for inviting us,” Sasha said gratefully. “I don’t think I could work under Jean. I still can’t believe that horse-face managed to rank second!”

“I’m with you on that one,” Conny agreed. “And besides Jean, the only other option was Mikasa. She’s great and all, but I don’t need to spend all my time listening to Eren complain.”

“Well, I’m glad you decided to join us,” Reiner said carefully as he glanced at Armin, who nodded slightly in acknowledgment, grateful that Reiner and Bertholdt were keeping what he had told them about Eren and Mikasa’s childhood secret.

“Well yeah, who wouldn’t want to be in this Unit?” Sasha said off-handedly. Reiner awkwardly chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Wait, did someone actually turn you down?” Conny asked incredulously, to which Reiner slowly nodded. “Who was it?”

Reiner shot Bertholdt a look, who stepped in with an answer. “Well, we did invite Ymir and Christa, but Ymir seemed pretty opposed to that. Personally, I think it’s all because Reiner asked Christa out.”

While Conny and Sasha joined Bertholdt in poking fun at a red-faced Reiner, Armin turned to Annie beside him, who appeared as bored as usual. “So. Why did you accept their invitation?”

Annie glanced at Armin and shrugged her shoulders. “I had to join a Unit, and it might as well be this one.”

Armin smirked and spoke without thinking. “So, the fact that the one person in the 104th you seem to mildly tolerate happened to join this Unit had nothing to do with it?”

Annie glared at Armin for a second, and he visibly shrank back, before her expression softened fractionally. “No, nothing at all.”

Armin nodded his head. “Fair enough,” he said as a sly grin crept onto his face. 

Annie rolled her eyes and stood up. “Idiot,” she mumbled under her breath as she stalked off to her tent. Armin chuckled to himself and turned back to the others, only to find all four of them staring at him.

“What?” He asked innocently. “Doesn’t she treat everyone like that?”

“No,” Sasha said sardonically. “She doesn’t talk to any of us. Only you. How the hell did you manage that?”

Armin sat back as he considered it. “To be honest, I don’t know.”

Bertholdt shook his head sadly. “Lucky,” he mumbled.

“Ha! Good one,” Conny laughed. “C’mon Armin, what’s your secret? Why do you even bother with her?”

“Well, I guess I just don’t let her abrasive nature bother me,” Armin said thoughtfully. “I’m used to hanging around Eren, so it doesn’t bother me that much. I may be reading too much into it, but I think she appreciates someone giving her a chance.”

“That kind of makes sense,” Sasha said. “Explains why she joined this Unit.”

“Nah,” Conny said with a snort. “Her only other option was Jean’s Unit, since Mikasa always seems to think Annie’s ‘up to something.’ Speaking of which, I wonder how Jean’s doing as a Unit leader.”

“Are you kidding?” Sasha exclaimed. “He’s probably already pissed someone off, and Marco’s having to cover his ass. I guarantee it!”

* * *

“Please, Ymir, calm down!”

“No!” Ymir yelled. “Get out of the way Marco, Jean has to pay for that!”

Marco stood his ground, blocking an incensed Ymir from tackling Jean, whose arms were folded in a defiant stance. 

“I still don’t see what’s so wrong with what I said!” Jean insisted.

“Horse-faced bastard!” Ymir yelled. “You can’t talk to Christa like that!”

“Ymir, it’s OK, really….” Christa said as she tried to pull Ymir away from a panicked-looking Marco. “I’m sure Jean didn’t mean it.”

“Like hell, he didn’t!”

“OK, OK,” Marco said, trying to diffuse the situation. “Let’s just all back down and separate. We can talk about this when we’re all calmer. Maybe then Jean can apologize.”

“Marco!” Jean yelped in betrayal. “How could you?!”

“Don’t make this worse on yourself,” Marco hissed. “Our first time meeting as a Unit, and you screw it up this badly?”

While the four of them continued their standoff, Milieus and Nack looked on uncomfortably. 

“I knew we should have joined Reiner’s Unit,” Nack said as he shook his head sadly.

“We had no choice,” Milieus reminded him. “Only six of us to a Unit, so we weren’t really left with an option.”

“We could have tried joining Mikasa’s Unit! It can’t be worse than this!”

* * *

“Again!” Mikasa yelled at Eren, who groaned in exasperation as he hopped down from the tree and landed next to her. Thomas opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it at the sight of Mikasa’s expression. Mina, Franz, and Hannah all stood uncomfortably behind him, hoping that Eren wouldn’t make a scene.

“I already graduated, Mikasa, I don’t need to keep doing these stupid drills.” Eren pointedly unclasped his ODM gear and slung it over his shoulder, silently daring her to keep pushing him.

Mikasa glared at him with stormy eyes while the other four members of her Unit looked on nervously.

“Um, Mikasa?” Thomas asked tentatively. “Can we be dismissed for the day?”

“Yes,” Mikasa barked out, not taking her gaze off Eren.

“Well, we’ll be off then,” Thomas said as his fellow Unit members turned to leave. “See you tomorrow?”

Mikasa didn’t respond, and so Thomas sighed and followed the others away from the clearing. From behind them, they could hear yells coming from Eren, who was no doubt throwing a temper tantrum.

After reaching the 104th compound, Thomas turned to Mina while Franz and Hannah waved good-bye. He shook his head in exasperation. “You know, when I agreed to be Mikasa’s second-in-command, I did not expect her to spend most of her time worried about Eren.”

“It’s his own fault for being so stubborn,” Mina said as she turned to him with her arms folded. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing a decent job making up the difference.”

Back in the clearing, Mikasa and Eren’s argument continued. 

“You don’t need to constantly tell me how I can do things better, I know I suck, OK?” Eren’s voice was full of venom as he rounded on Mikasa, who refused to back down in the face of his anger. Several years of military training had hardened her, and she wouldn’t be pushed around as easily as when she was younger.

“I’m not saying you suck,” Mikasa said through gritted teeth. “I’m just trying to help you improve. It’s dangerous out there, and I don’t want to end up watching you get gulped down by a Titan!”

“I won’t get eaten by a Titan,” Eren said as he rolled his eyes. “Why can’t you just treat me like you do everyone else?”

“Because you’re not everyone else, Eren. You know that, and I know that. Like it or not, we’re in this together for the long run. That’s why I pushed so hard to get you in my Unit.”

“We’re in this together for the long run?” Eren said incredulously. “I’ve been stuck with you for seven years already, yet you never give Armin this kind of crap! You’ve known him almost as long as you’ve known me, but you didn’t fight tooth and nail to get him in your Unit!”

“Armin’s different,” Mikasa said exasperatedly. “Besides, as much as I may dislike Annie, Armin seems to think she’s pretty cool, and I wasn’t going to get in the way.”

“Now you’re not even making any sense!” Eren yelled as he threw his hands up. 

“Really? Can you at least try not to be a total idiot?” Mikasa said as she shook her head in disbelief. “Pay attention to the people around you! If your head wasn’t so far up your own ass, you might notice a thing or two!”

“Well isn’t that ironic!” Eren snapped. “Coming from someone who hasn’t stopped clinging to me since she was nine years old!”

SLAP!

Eren stared in shock at Mikasa’s seething expression. In all the years he’d known her, this was the first time she had straight-up hit him. The stinging sensation in his cheek brought him back to reality, and his anger slowly evaporated.

“I’m….I’m sorry,” he said as he rubbed his face. Mikasa’s expression softened and she raised a hand to touch his face.

“Yeah, I’m sorry too,” she murmured.

“No, you don’t have to apologize for anything,” Eren said slowly. “I shouldn’t have yelled, and I shouldn’t have….”

“Yeah.” Mikasa’s expression turned downcast. “I know. But you had a point. I’ve been clinging to you since I was nine, and I need to grow beyond that.”

Eren sighed. “Listen. It doesn’t seem like it, but I understand. You’re still haunted by what happened. I am too, but maybe we need each other to get past it.”

Mikasa’s eyes met Eren’s, and she softly smiled. “That may be the most mature thing you’ve ever said.”

Eren rolled his eyes, but it was clear he wasn’t annoyed. He hesitantly held out a hand. “Can we start again? Can you….give me another chance?”

After hesitating for a moment, Mikasa grabbed his hand and firmly shook it.

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

“C’mon guys, hurry up!”

“We’re coming, Armin, just hold up a sec,” Eren grunted as he hoisted himself over the wall surrounding the compound. He dropped down onto the other side with Mikasa, and the trio continued off into the woods.

“So, what’s this all about anyway?” Eren asked.

“Well, since we all leave for Trost tomorrow, we’ll be very busy, and I won’t get to see you guys as often,” Armin explained. “I wanted to spend one last evening with you guys, just the three of us. For old time’s sake, like when we were kids.”

Mikasa smiled and placed a hand on Armin’s shoulder. “Good idea. I have to admit, I miss those days.”

Eren almost brought up how those days were brought to a violent end by the Titans, but when he saw Armin and Mikasa’s smiling faces, he managed to withhold his anger. He remembered what Armin had told him about not letting anger define him.

_ Maybe I should try listening to him for once. _

“Armin, you remember those stories you used to tell us about?”

* * *

“Alright, so this one involves an ocean again. Don’t forget Eren, an ocean is just an endless body of salty water, nothing to it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eren said with a grin, waving at Armin to continue. He had to admit, this had been one of the best evenings he’d ever had since the days when he was just a kid in Shiganshina. Armin had a seemingly endless supply of stories memorized from various books he had read as a kid, and Mikasa was actually really fun to hang out with, when she wasn’t trying to boss him around.

For a moment, Eren frowned, but quickly pushed the thought down. The Mikasa here tonight with him and Armin was the real Mikasa, not the stoic soldier that was his Unit leader. After their fight, she had backed off of him a bit, and he appreciated it. 

“OK,” Armin began, taking on the role of the wizened old storyteller, “long ago, there was a family that lived in a small village on the coast of a vast ocean. The family had a child who didn’t get along with any of the other kids in the village. He would always start fights, but he would never win any.”

“Sounds like someone we know,” Mikasa said teasingly as she pulled her scarf up to hide her smirk.

“Hey, I won some of my fights, you just never saw any of them!” Eren’s voice was full of indignation.

“Eren, as your life-long friend, I can confidently say that is 100% false.” Armin tried to keep a straight face, but failed in the end, dissolving into a fit of giggles, which set Eren off into a snickering mess, which in turn brought Mikasa to tears of laughter.

“Hey, stop distracting me, I’m trying to tell a story here!” Armin weakly protested between giggles. After a moment, both Eren and Mikasa’s laughter subsided, and Armin continued with his story.

“One day, the boy accidentally revealed to the village that his family was part human, part monster, and the family was chased out of the village and onto the ocean. After sailing for over a day, they came across a small, mountainous island, where they settled and lived peacefully for many years.”

“Wait, hold up,” Eren interjected. “The family was part monster? What does that mean?”

“I don’t know Eren,” Armin said with a shrug. “It’s just a story. But anyway, eventually, after many years, the village came across the ocean and attacked the family. Overwhelmed by their numbers, the family was on the verge of defeat, when the island rose up out of the ocean and revealed itself to be a giant reptilian monster: the Alpha Predator!”

“I remember you telling us about the Alpha Predator,” Mikasa suddenly said. “Is this the same one you were telling us about?”

“Yep!” Armin said with a grin. “The Alpha Predator protected the family, fighting off all of the villagers. The family then climbed onto its back, and it swam off across the ocean in search of a new place to rest.”

“What happened next?” Eren asked.

“Nobody knows,” Armin said knowingly. “You’ll have to use what little imagination you have to decide the ending.”

“Hey!” Eren said as he swatted the back of Armin’s head. “I’m imaginative!”

“Then come up with your own ending,” Mikasa said slyly.

“Fine! So, the family sailed off across the ocean on the back of the Alpha Predator, and then, um….well….” Eren trailed off while Armin and Mikasa stared at him expectantly. “I guess the Alpha Predator decided to find a spot to become an island again, and the family continued to live on its back?” Even as he was saying it, Eren winced in embarrassment.

“See? That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” Armin said cheerfully. “Nobody else could have ever come up with that ending.”

Eren groaned while Mikasa chuckled in amusement. “OK, fine, so maybe I’m not that imaginative.”

“Hey, nothing wrong with that,” Armin said as he patted Eren on the shoulder. “But I doubt you’ll ever get a girlfriend by telling her stories.”

Eren rolled his eyes while Mikasa blushed slightly, hiding it underneath her scarf. After a moment, Armin’s expression turned serious.

“This has been fun. Telling stories like when we were kids. But things are going to be different. We’re soldiers now.”

Mikasa looked out across the compound before speaking. “You’re right. It will be different, but we can’t afford to forget where we came from.”

Eren nodded knowingly as he got to his feet. “Starting tomorrow, we’re soldiers. And who knows? Maybe eventually, we can take back Wall Maria. Maybe we’ll be able to go home.”

Eren held out his hands to Armin and Mikasa, and he hoisted them to their feet.

“I’d like that,” Armin said. “Home.”

* * *

While all 18 former members of the 104th Division stood watched, Commandant Sadies greeted their new commanding officer, Major Rico Brzenska.

“Rico, I can personally assure you that all 18 of these soldiers here are well trained, and will serve you as best they can.” Sadies displayed a rare smile as he shook Rico’s hand.

“I should hope so,” Rico responded. Turning to the assembled soldiers, she surveyed them for several seconds silently, after which she nodded appreciatively. “Good job, Sadies. I look forward to working with them.”

Rico yelled out a command to the young soldiers. “ATTENTION!”

All 18 of them stood tall and proud as Rico smiled warmly. “Welcome to the Garrison Regiment. I’m Major Rico, in charge of Crimson Squad. We’re glad to have you. Today, we leave for Trost District, where you will all begin your first assignment: Wall Patrol. It may not seem glamorous, but it is vitally important to all of Eldia, and we thank you for all the hard work you’ve put in the past three years to get here.”

Turning to Sadies one last time, Rico saluted him. “And thank you, Commandant. I will take good care of them.”

Sadies saluted her back, and yelled his final command to the members of Crimson Squad.

“SOLDIERS! MOVE OUT! YOU MARCH FOR TROST IMMEDIATELY!”

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

Eren stared out at the sprawling landscape to the south of Wall Rose, taking in the vast land that once belonged to humanity. 

“We will take this back,” he said under his breath.

“Hey, Eren!”

Eren turned to Thomas, who was coming towards him. Stationed atop the wall surrounding Trost, the 18 members of Crimson Squad each stood equidistant from each other on the outcropping. They rotated within their Units every half hour, and this particular day, Eren was stationed right in the center above the sealed gate.

“Thomas,” Eren said as he raised a hand in greeting. “I gotta ask, what do you think of ‘Wall Patrol’ so far?”

“To be honest, it’s quite boring,” Thomas admitted. “It’s a nice view, but we’re little more than glorified lookouts. I kinda wish we were stationed somewhere else.”

Eren shook his head. “I don’t. Right here, we’re closer than anyone to the Titans. This is right where we need to be. If any of the Alpha Titans try anything, we’ll be here to fight them off!”

Thomas stared at Eren for a moment before shrugging. “Whatever you say. We’re about to break for lunch, you coming?”

Eren sighed in exasperation, annoyed at Thomas’ lack of conviction. “Yeah, I’ll be along in a minute.”

“Alright, I just wanted to let you know.” Thomas started off back the way he came.

Eren turned to have one last look out across the landscape. He knew that to the south, over the horizon, many miles away, lay Wall Maria and Shiganshina District.

“Like I told Armin and Mikasa. We  _ will _ take this back someday.”

Lightning flashed right in front of Eren’s face, and he was blown back by a rush of hot air. Grabbing desperately at the stone, Eren was barely able to stop himself from flying off the top of the wall. Looking up, Eren froze. Leering above him stood the Alpha Titan Behemoth. 60 meters tall, it stared down at Eren with dark, unreadable eyes.

Eren stood frozen for several seconds, completely unresponsive. Thoughts raced through his mind, first and foremost Armin’s advice.

‘I hate the way we live, I just choose not to let it define me.’

Staring at Behemoth, Eren’s face contorted into a mask of rage and hatred.

_ Screw that. Titans stole my home from me. I watched my mother get devoured. _

_ And Behemoth is the one who’s responsible. _

“DAMN YOU!” He screamed as he drew his swords and jumped off the wall towards Behemoth, his ODM gear firing directly at its face.

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter actually wasn’t in my original outline. Originally, chapter 4 would have ended with the 104th graduating and going to Trost immediately, but when writing it, the transition seemed to be a little too quick, and so I decided to add an extra chapter to introduce all three of the Units and their dynamics. It also allowed me to spend some more time with the main trio before the events in Trost, and I’ve gotta say, I’m very glad I did it. It established that Eren is trying to improve his friendship with Mikasa, and to call back to the first chapter where Armin was telling them about the Alpha Predator.
> 
> The next chapter will be about Trost coming under attack, and if you’ve read or seen Attack on Titan, then you know exactly how this next chapter has to end, and I’m looking forward to it.
> 
> Until then!
> 
> -AlphaBeta17 (5/19/20)


	6. Attack on Trost District

The cables of Eren's ODM gear struck the space directly between Behemoth's eyes, and Eren swung around the giant hairy head, ready to slash across the back of the creature's neck.

"I HAVE YOU NOW!"

Behemoth suddenly jerked its head up, and Eren was thrown off course, forcing him to swing around and land on one of its tusks. He stared up into its eyes with unbridled hatred.

"That all you got?!" Eren seethed derisively. "I've been waiting for this moment for six years. WHAT HAVE _YOU_ DONE ALL THIS TIME?!"

Behemoth glared down at him before letting out a booming roar that rattled his bones. He clung to its tusks for dear life as it reared up on its hind legs and swung its head back, preparing to use its tusks to bash through the wall, just like it had at Shiganshina six years earlier.

"NO! NOT AGAIN!" Eren tried to fire his ODM gear again, but he slipped off the tusk and began to freefall to the ground below. He had only seconds to react, and he barely managed to fire his cables in time, allowing him to swing to the ground, where he tumbled roughly to a stop at the base of the wall. He looked up just in time to see Behemoth's tusks pierce through the wall with explosive force, sending huge chunks of stone tumbling down on top of him.

Engaging his ODM cables, he was pulled out of the way just in time, the stone chunks crashing to the ground where he had just been. He swung up into the air and prepared to attack Behemoth once again, his expression one of pure fury.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"

Behemoth turned its head, and its eyes met Eren's for a brief instant.

Eren let out a gasp at the sight of eyes that seemed to convey a level of intelligence. This wasn't a mindless monster like regular Titans.

It knew exactly what it was doing.

To Eren, it felt like he had been struck by lightning. He changed course and landed on top of the wall next to the destroyed section. He stared at Behemoth, and it stared right back at him.

"What _are_ you?" Eren managed to say aloud.

With a huff, Behemoth was suddenly enveloped in a cloud of steam which washed over Eren with the force of a raging river. He desperately grabbed onto the stone beneath him, and he barely managed to avoid being flung off the wall, gripping onto cracks in the stone surface.

As the steam cleared, Eren slowly got to his feet. To his shock, Behemoth was gone, leaving behind only what it had destroyed. The entire section of the wall where the gate had been was now collapsed into a pile of rubble on the ground, and regular Titans were already climbing over it into Trost.

Eren felt a familiar surge of fear grip him as he watched the Titans begin to make their way into the city, and even from his vantage point 50 meters up, he could see people beginning to flee.

"Damn it! I'm just as useless as I was back then!" Eren spat under his breath.

"Eren! Are you alright?" Eren turned to see Bertholdt running up to him, his expression frantic.

"Yeah….I'm OK," Eren said slowly as he gazed out across Trost.

"Behemoth was right here, did you see where it went?" Bertholdt asked as he came to a stop, his breath coming in gasps.

"No…." Eren muttered. "It disappeared, just like it did six years ago."

"Really?" Bertholdt sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "Well then, now what?"

After another moment of staring out across the city, Eren turned to Bertholdt with a fierce look in his eyes.

"We fight back!"

* * *

Armin had been eating lunch with Sasha and Conny when the bolt of lightning struck outside the sealed gate of Trost, and Behemoth destroyed a section of the wall. Despite not knowing where the other three members of their Unit were, the three of them had immediately swung down to help people who were at the base of the wall.

It had quickly become apparent that they were in over their heads.

"Armin!" Conny yelled out as he swung in and tried to kill the Titan that was bearing down on Armin, who was backed up against a wall, frozen in fear. Conny slashed across the back of the Titan's neck, but he miscalculated, failing to kill it, and he quickly had to swing away to avoid being grabbed. Armin took the opportunity to fire his ODM gear and ascend to the rooftops, where he stopped to catch his breath beside Conny, his heart racing from his first encounter with a Titan. Sasha landed beside them and slumped to the ground, already exhausted.

"It's a lot harder landing killing blows on real Titans than it was with the dummies," she tried to say light-heartedly.

"We're not skilled enough to take Titans down," Armin said dejectedly. He triggered the release button on his swords with shaking hands, and his spent blades clattered on the shingles at his feet. He jammed his sword handles into their holders and equipped his second pair of blades. "We need to retreat, back to the others."

Conny glanced over the side of the house, and immediately jumped back as a large hand nearly grabbed him.

"Shit, there's Titans all around us!" Conny said as he backed up to Armin and Sasha.

"We can't stick around though…." Sasha said as she pointed towards an incoming 13-meter Titan that had spotted them.

"Crap," Armin muttered as he nervously readied himself to jump off the rooftop. Memories of Shiganshina were filling his mind, and he was finding himself gripped with fear. "We'll head for the top of the wall, OK?"

"Hope to see you there," Conny said with a crooked grin. He jumped off the rooftop, followed quickly by Sasha. Armin went to jump as well, but hesitated on the edge. He glanced downwards and shuddered at the sight of a 5-meter Titan staring up at him. It couldn't reach him, so it waved its arms above its head mindlessly, stretched out towards Armin.

Armin took a deep breath and tensed his legs, ready to leap out into the unknown.

A large pair of hands suddenly grabbed him, and he felt himself lift off the ground. He screamed in panic as he saw the 13-meter Titan raise him towards his mouth. He tried to thrash in its grip, but his arms were pinned to his sides. He was trapped.

_This is it. This is where I die._

_I DON'T WANT TO DIE!_

"HELP!" He screamed in absolute terror.

A pair of ODM cables struck the Titan's chin, and a flash of steel swept across its wrists, slashing them open. The Titan released Armin, who fired his ODM gear and jumped away to safety. He turned in midair just in time to see Annie come back around, having been the one who freed him from the Titan's grasp. She landed next to him while Reiner flew in and slashed across the back of the Titan's neck, killing it instantly.

Armin took several deep breaths while Annie watched him carefully. After a moment, he was able to look at her with a small smile. "Thanks, Annie," he said gratefully. She gave him the briefest of smiles in return, before resorting to her usual scowl.

"Try not to get killed." She jumped into the air and sped off, while Reiner circled around and flew past Armin.

"Come on, Armin! We're regrouping with the others!"

Armin gave a quick nod and jumped into the air, following Reiner.

* * *

"I won't lie to you," Rico said grimly. "Things aren't looking too good right now. At the rate the Titans are pouring into the city, we'll have to completely abandon it, just like we did with the Wall Maria districts six years ago."

"Major Rico, do you think the other three Wall Rose districts have been attacked?" Marco asked, not bothering to hide his anxiety. The other members of Crimson Squad all gave each other nervous looks while Rico took her glasses off to rub her face.

"Honestly, I don't know," Rico said carefully. "Right now, we can't afford to worry about that. We'll concentrate on what's going on here and now, and hope that if this is happening elsewhere, the Garrison in the other districts has it under control."

"So what will we do?" Mikasa asked. Rico turned to her and sighed.

"Crimson Squad has been assigned to be the Vanguard Defense. All 18 of you will confront the Titans head-on at the southern end of the city, right around the breach."

"What? Are they crazy?!" Jean shouted. "We're the newest members of the Garrison in Trost! We'll be wiped out!"

Rico swung on Jean with a fierce expression. "It's out of my control, Jean. I tried explaining that to Captain Woermann, but he ignored me. We'll just have to hope for the best. Right now, our priority is on slowing the Titans down so that civilians can be evacuated out of Trost, which will be the responsibility of the Rear Guard. If things become too hairy for us at the front of the city, we'll fall back to the Middle Guard."

Rico turned back to the rest of Crimson Squad and drew her swords, pointing them out over the city.

"Reiner, your unit will take the east, and Jean, yours will take the west. Mikasa, your unit will be responsible for the center of the Vanguard, as you were the highest-ranked graduate of the 104th. Can I count on you?"

Mikasa nodded squarely. "Yes, ma'am."

"Alright then," Rico said as she moved to jump off the wall. "Everyone, listen to your Unit leaders, and stay sharp."

"Wait!" Armin suddenly cried out. Rico turned to him and gave him a questioning stare. "Where are you going?"

Rico sighed, and her tone took on a regretful note. "I've been ordered to join Captain Woermann at the northern end of the city. I'm sorry, but I can't help any of you."

"But you're our Squad leader!" Armin protested. "You should be with us!"

"I agree with you," Rico said quietly. Armin's expression softened as Rico turned away in shame. "There's a lot of corruption in Eldia, and there's not a lot any of us can do about it. I hope to see all 18 of you later."

With that, Rico jumped off the wall and began to make her way to the north. After several seconds of stunned silence, Reiner took charge.

"You guys heard what she said. Let's go!"

* * *

Eren groaned in frustration as Mikasa continued to pull ahead of the rest of her Unit. She was flying through Trost at breakneck speeds, and while it had already resulted in several dead Titans, it also meant that her Unit was expending way too much gas trying to keep up with her.

"Mikasa, slow down!" Thomas yelled out. He changed course to take a shortcut over a line of houses, hoping to cut Mikasa off and force her to slow down. He knew that the rest of the Unit couldn't keep this pace up, and they needed a plan in order to-

He didn't see the Titan until it was too late. It jumped up from its spot behind the house and grabbed him by the legs with its mouth as he flew over it. With a sickening crunch, he was suddenly falling to the ground.

"Thomas!" Eren yelled out as he turned around to go help him.

"What…." Thomas said warily as he tried to stand up, but found his legs weren't responding. He looked down, and he felt a wave of confusion grip him.

His lower legs were missing, ending just below his knees in bloody stumps.

Thomas stared, not comprehending what had just happened. The pain of having his legs bitten off hadn't even registered in his mind yet.

A shadow fell over him, and he looked up just in time to see the Titan dive at him headfirst. The last thing he saw was the back of the Titan's throat.

Eren turned and swung away as bile rose in his throat, not looking back as the sounds of crunching bones came from where Thomas had just been.

Franz, Hannah, and Mina came swinging in, looking around wildly for Thomas.

"Where is he?!" Mina yelled to Eren, who perched on a rooftop with them and collapsed to his knees. He gestured behind him, towards the Titan, which swallowed the last bit of Thomas with a loud gulp.

Mina let out a small scream while Franz and Hannah both gasped in revulsion.

"Where's Mikasa?!" Franz said wildly while Hannah began to vomit, kneeling over the edge of the roof and expelling the contents of her stomach on the ground below.

"I don't know…." Eren said warily. "I don't think she realized we all turned around to go after Thomas."

The house beneath their feet suddenly shook as a Titan slammed its body into it. Eren stood up and felt his stomach twist at the sight. Surrounding the house on all sides was a horde of Titans.

"We were sent to the Vanguard to be used as live bait," he said with a horrified realization. "We're drawing the Titans away from the rest of the city just by being here! The Garrison sent us here to die!"

* * *

As Reiner's Unit flew through the air, Conny couldn't keep the frustration out of his voice.

"It just doesn't make sense! Why would they send us, the newest and most inexperienced soldiers in Trost, to the frontlines?"

"It's like Rico said, Conny," Bertholdt responded as the six of them landed on top of a water tower. "There's a lot of corruption in Eldia. The ones in positions of power want to maintain their places, and they'll do anything to keep it that way."

"Alright," Reiner cut in. "We'll split into teams of two, and take out Titans one at a time. Bertholdt, you're with me. Conny and Sasha, you two team up, and Armin and Annie, you as well. We should focus on the Titans that seem to be heading north. For now, ignore any of them that are just idling, or are already eating people. Once a Titan's got part of you in its mouth, it's too late. If you run into trouble, or get separated from your teammate, come back here to the water tower immediately."

Sasha drew her swords and gave Conny a nervous grin. "Let's go." Conny nodded, and the two of them sped off, while Reiner turned to Annie and Armin.

"I'm counting on you two working well together. Don't let me down," Reiner said before he jumped off the tower. Bertholdt looked like he wanted to say something, but he decided against it, and followed Reiner.

Armin was about to jump off as well, but he stopped when he saw Annie wasn't moving.

"Annie, you alright?" He asked worriedly. Annie ignored him and cupped her hands to her mouth. She took a deep breath and let out a strange yell. It echoed through the nearby streets of Trost, and almost sounded like a Titan roar.

"What was that?" Armin asked cautiously. Annie shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Something my father taught me. It's supposed to attract Titans."

Armin gave her a confused look, and she rolled her eyes and gestured to where they were standing. "We're in one of the safest spots in Trost right now. High up out of reach, and a good view of the surroundings. See?" Annie pointed her finger, and Armin noticed that there were indeed several Titans making their way towards the water tower.

Annie drew her swords and prepared to jump off the tower. "You stay up here and yell down to me where to go."

Armin raised his eyebrows. "You know, it almost sounds like you don't want me fighting Titans."

Annie scoffed. "Of course not. I just don't want to have to stop what I'm doing to save your ass again."

Armin raised his hands in mock surrender. "OK, whatever you say," he said as Annie jumped off the tower. Once she was out of earshot though, he couldn't help himself.

"Or maybe you actually do care."

* * *

Marco and Jean jumped off the rooftop together and flew towards the Titan side-by-side, ready to execute Marco's plan.

"Now!"

They split directions, Jean going up towards the Titan's head while Marco went down, swinging low above the ground. While Jean distracted it, Marco swung around the Titan's legs, slashing both of its heels open. The Titan immediately collapsed to the ground face-first, and with a war cry, Jean spun in midair and flew down towards the Titan, driving his swords into the back of its neck, killing it instantly.

Jean let out a victory yell before ascending back to the rooftops with Marco, where they were soon joined by Ymir and Christa.

"Did it work?" Marco asked excitedly.

"Sure did!" Christa said with a smile. "It really was a great idea, Marco."

"Next time though, you get to be the one who kills it," Ymir grumbled to Christa as she wiped Titan blood off her face.

A scream suddenly pierced the air, and the four soldiers turned towards the direction it came from.

"That sounded like Milieus!" Marco said as his eyes widened. He jumped off the rooftop and began to swing his way towards the source of the scream, followed closely by Jean, Christa, and Ymir.

"Please be alright, please be alright," Marco muttered under his breath.

As the four of them swung around a corner, they were greeted with the sight of three Titans feasting on their other two Unit members.

"NO!" Marco screamed as he saw two Titans rip Milieus in half down the middle, spraying the street below with blood. He changed directions to go help them, but a cry from Jean caused him to hesitate.

"No, Marco! It's too late, we need to retreat!"

"But Nack isn't dead yet!" Marco cried out, seeing his friend's legs still moving, hanging out of the Titan's mouth.

Jean's next statement shook Marco to the core.

"Yes, he is."

After hesitating, Marco pulled up and rejoined his fellow Unit members, who all congregated on the spire of a nearby church and hung off of it, watching the carnage from a distance.

"This is horrible," Christa said quietly as they watched the Titans finish off their meal and lumber off in search of more food.

"I always knew this was how it was, but seeing it first hand…." Ymir murmured as her face took on a disgusted expression. "It's awful."

Jean shook his head, trying to clear the bloody images from his mind. "We need to go after those Titans," he said as anger crossed his face. "If we don't kill them, they'll eat more people, and Nack and Milieus would have died for nothing."

Marco nodded slowly. "You're right." He swept his arm across his face, clearing away a couple of tears.

"We'll do this for our fallen friends!"

* * *

Eren's plan to escape from the Titan horde with Franz, Hannah, and Mina had been a gruesome disaster. All three of his fellow soldiers had been caught in midair, and devoured.

Now, he flew through the air alone, desperately trying to find Mikasa. He felt incredibly exposed, swinging around by himself.

"Eren!" It was Mikasa, who started swinging over to him with relief evident in her expression. "Are you-"

Eren suddenly felt himself get slapped out of the air by a large Titan hand, and he went tumbling to the ground below. He landed on the street with a loud crack, and he sat there, stunned from the impact. He stared at his leg through half-lidded eyes, and failed to notice the Titan behind him, reaching down to pick him up.

"NO!" Mikasa came flying in, and she sliced off the Titan's fingers first before swinging up and around to land a killing blow across its neck. The Titan fell forward and impacted on the ground, its head only a meter away from Eren.

Mikasa landed next to him and sheathed her swords, placing his arm around her shoulders and helping him to his feet. He tried to place weight on his left foot, and immediately winced.

"I think it's broken," he mumbled.

"We need to get you to safety," Mikasa responded. Eren heard the firing of her ODM gear, and they ascended to the rooftops, where she set him down gently. His head started to clear, and he gasped in pain, clutching his leg.

"Eren, where's everyone else?" Mikasa's voice was full of worry as she examined his leg.

"They're all dead," he said quietly. "I'm the only survivor."

Mikasa looked up at him in horror. "All of them?"

"Yeah."

Mikasa sank to her knees in front of Eren, guilt rippling through her. She felt her throat tighten, and she immediately tried to shove her emotions back down. She took a deep breath, and was about to say something, when a sound came from behind her. She turned around just in time to see a 15-meter Titan bearing down on her, its mouth wide open.

"MIKASA!" Eren yelled as he instinctively threw himself forward without hesitation. His hands connected with her back, and he shoved her off the edge of the roof.

As Mikasa fell through the air, time seemed to freeze. She turned and watched as the Titan's jaws hovered around Eren, and his gaze connected with her own for a brief moment.

Then, time unfroze, and its jaws snapped shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When writing this chapter, I decided to have Mikasa be present for Eren's 'death' instead of Armin, for reasons that will be explained in the next chapter, where we'll (finally!) get to the altered backstory for Mikasa, and I have to say, I'm very excited to share it with you guys!
> 
> Until then!
> 
> -AlphaBeta17 (5/26/20)


	7. Vogel im Käfig

**Seven Years Ago**

"Mikasa, it's time for dinner!"

Mikasa playfully groaned as she stood up from petting the family cat, Yuki, and made her way to the dinner table, sitting down next to her mother.

"Are we having duck again?" Mikasa asked with a grin.

"Yep," her father said as he walked over to the table. "Your favorite, right?"

"Of course!"

Mikasa's father smiled as he set down the plate of roast duck on the table. Just before he could sit down, however, he was interrupted by a knock.

"I'll get it," he said as he walked over to the door. He opened it to find a man standing on the other side, flanked by two children. One was a boy with short dark brown hair, who was wearing a red scarf, and the other was a girl with long, light brown hair.

"Hello there!" The man said with a warm smile. "May I come in?"

"Oh, Dr. Jaeger! So nice to see you again," Mikasa's father said with a grin as he swung open the door. Grisha took off his top hat as he walked in, shaking Mikasa's father's hand firmly.

Mikasa's mother rose from her seat at the table and greeted Grisha warmly while he stood aside and introduced his children.

"This is my son, Eren, and my daughter, Katrina. I understand you already have a daughter of your own?"

"Yes, this is Mikasa," Mikasa's mother said as she motioned for Mikasa to stand up. Mikasa shyly stood up and walked over to her mother, peering out from behind her at the other two children. "Say hi, sweetie," she said with a comforting smile.

After a moment, Mikasa spoke. "Hi," she said quietly.

"Hi!" Katrina said with a broad smile, striding forward while Eren trailed behind her. "Don't worry, my daddy will help your brother, promise!"

Mikasa glanced at her mother's swollen belly and smiled brightly. "Really?"

"Yep!" Katrina said proudly. "My daddy is the best doctor around!"

"Trina," Grisha said as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, flashing Mikasa's parents an embarrassed smile. "I'm not the best doctor, and remember, there's no way to know if Mrs. Ackermann is having a boy."

"I bet it's a boy," Katrina said cheerfully, ignoring her father. "You'll see!"

While the adults all laughed in amusement and went to sit down at the table, Katrina noticed the brown tabby cat watching them from next to the fireplace. She squealed in excitement and ran over to it, leaving Eren standing with Mikasa.

"Trina always gets really excited around animals," he said with a bemused smile. "You'll get used to it."

"I think she seems fun," Mikasa said as she turned to follow Katrina. "Come on, let's go play with Yuki!"

"OK," Eren said with a shrug as they went to join Katrina.

* * *

**Present Day**

In the moment after witnessing Eren get devoured by the Titan, a flurry of thoughts and emotions raced through Mikasa's mind, but three stood out in particular.

Shock.

Grief.

Anger.

In a single-minded, laser-focused move, Mikasa fired her ODM gear and swung up and around, ready to rip the Titan's jaw off and tear Eren out. She was not about to accept his death. She _couldn't_ accept it.

As she flew towards the Titan, it turned its head and noticed her coming at it, a murderous expression etched on her face. It only reacted by tipping its head back and swallowing.

Mikasa let out an anguished scream as she sliced off the Titan's jaw, which tumbled to the ground below. Without stopping, she flew around its head and slashed through its nape, killing it instantly.

The Titan collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash. Mikasa landed next to it and sheathed her swords, climbing on top of the Titan's body and staring at its back beneath her feet.

She knew that Eren was in there.

No.

Eren's _body_ was in there.

Her throat began to constrict, and she collapsed to her knees, placing her hands on the Titan's flesh. A part of her wanted to carve into the Titan with her swords and pull Eren's body out.

But she knew that she couldn't. By now, his body was surely submerged in the Titan's stomach acid, and being melted away by the minute. If she was exposed to it, she would only end up bringing harm to herself.

A loud, booming horn call suddenly echoed across Trost. A retreat signal, coming from the fort on top of the hill in the center of the district. Mikasa turned and stared off in its direction.

Trost. The attack. Mikasa knew she couldn't afford to be distracted from the mission, no matter how much she wanted to give up.

She got to her feet, and drew a deep breath. Now wasn't the time for grief. She would have to keep her emotions in check.

Everything dies. _People_ die. All she could do was accept it, and move on.

* * *

**Seven Years Ago**

After dinner, the three children went to play outside with Yuki while the adults talked about Mrs. Ackermann's pregnancy inside. Katrina watched in fascination as Yuki crept slowly towards a stand of bushes, his body flat and tense.

"What's he doing?" She whispered to Mikasa.

"He's stalking something," she whispered back. "I think I know what it is. Let's see if he catches it!"

"What is it?" Eren asked quietly. Both of the girls quickly shushed him, and he held up his hands in surrender. "Is this better?" He whispered dryly.

"Yes," Mikasa whispered back. "And I think he's hunting a bird with a broken wing."

"Wait, what?" Katrina said, her voice no longer a whisper. "We have to stop him!"

As she moved to stand up, Mikasa took hold of her wrist and held her back.

"No," Mikasa whispered firmly to Katrina. "We have to let him do this."

"No, we need to stop him!" Katrina said loudly. Triggered by her outburst, the bushes suddenly rustled, and a sparrow jumped out and began to hop away towards the nearby forest. Yuki immediately pounced, his claws holding down the bird while he bit down on its neck, killing it quickly.

Katrina's eyes widened in shock, and she turned to Mikasa in anger. "Why would you let him do that?!" She cried. "It can't fly, it's not fair!"

Mikasa smiled wistfully. "It's not fair," she agreed. "You're right."

"But then why would you let Yuki kill it?!" Katrina bawled. "You're not making sense!"

"I didn't let it _kill_ the bird," Mikasa said gently as she took Katrina's hand. "I let it _hunt_ the bird. I found that bird a couple of days ago after it crashed into one of our windows. It broke its wing, and my mommy says that it won't be able to heal the right way. It can't fly anymore, and so we let it go outside."

"But you could have kept it inside!" Katrina said tearfully. "You let it die!"

Mikasa looked down, not able to meet Katrina's gaze. "Yes, we could have kept the bird inside, but since we have Yuki, we'd have to keep it in a cage. Cats are hunters, and we can't change that. That bird spent its whole life flying in the sky, and it would be mean to keep it trapped like that. So we let it go in the bush, so it could live the rest of its life free."

"But it _died_!" Katrina insisted. "It didn't live the rest of its life!"

"Yes it did," Eren suddenly said. Mikasa and Katrina both looked at him, and the young boy had a wistful look on his face. "It's better to live a few short days free, than to live years trapped in a cage."

"No!" Katrina yelled, getting to her feet. "You're wrong! You're both wrong!" She ran off back towards Mikasa's house, crying. Mikasa stared at the ground, hurt crossing her face.

"I didn't want to make her cry," she said softly. Tears began to prick the edges of her eyes, and she turned away from Eren, hiding her face.

She softly gasped when she felt something soft drape across her shoulders and around her neck.

"Eren?" She asked quietly.

"Here," he said as he finished wrapping his red scarf around her head. "Don't worry about Trina, she'll calm down."

Mikasa turned to Eren and threw her arms around him. His eyes widened in surprise before he closed them and returned the hug.

* * *

**Present Day**

That one moment of kindness, that Eren probably never gave any thought to, played again and again in Mikasa's mind as she swung across the district, approaching the retreat point.

She landed on a walkway on top of the fort at the center of Trost, and approached the other members of Crimson Squad. Armin noticed her approaching, and ran over to her with a worried expression.

"Mikasa! Where's the rest of your Unit? Where's Eren?"

Mikasa stopped in front of Armin. "They're not coming."

Armin froze. "Wait. What do you mean?"

Mikasa sighed. "Armin…."

Armin's face slowly morphed into one of horror as their fellow soldiers began to come over as well. They stopped short at the look in Mikasa's eyes.

"Mikasa," Armin said slowly. "Where are they?"

Mikasa stared at Armin with a neutral look on her face. "Armin," she said softly. She knew he was smart enough to understand.

He just didn't want to.

"Oh no," Christa said softly as she brought her hands to her mouth.

"My god..." Reiner said in disbelief. "Thomas, Mina, Franz, Hannah _and_ Eren? All of them?"

Mikasa hesitated briefly, her emotions threatening to take over, before she shoved them back down again.

"Yes. My whole Unit is dead."

Armin collapsed to the ground, hunched over his knees. His shoulders began to shake with quiet sobs.

* * *

**Seven Years Ago**

"Mikasa, I'm pleased to tell you that your mother is doing perfectly fine, and that you should have a sibling in less than two months." Grisha's calm voice was comforting to Mikasa, and her face brightened.

"Thank you!" She said as she threw her arms around his neck. Grisha chuckled and noticed she was wearing his son's scarf.

"Oh, did Eren give this to you?"

Mikasa glanced back at Eren, who was sitting next to a still pouting Katrina, and blushed. "Yes, he's very nice."

Hurried pounding suddenly came from the door, and Mikasa's father rushed over to answer it.

He pulled open the door, and framed against the darkening sky outside was a frantic looking man.

"Help me, please! My daughter, she's sick with pneumonia, and she won't stop coughing! I heard a doctor came through here today, is he here?"

Mr. Ackermann turned to Grisha, whose expression took on a serious note. He stood up from his seat at the table and began to collect his things. "Yes, I'll come right away."

As he hurried out the door, he stopped and turned to Mr. Ackermann. "I'm sorry, do you mind if I leave my children here?"

"Yes, of course," Mr. Ackermann said, waving his hand. "Go! Your patient needs you."

* * *

Katrina watched Yuki lick his paws next to the fireplace, and she shook her head.

"Well, at least he's full," she said, trying to justify the killing of the bird to herself.

Eren chuckled and lightly shoved his sister. "I bet that bird tasted really good," he said teasingly.

"Hey!" Katrina said, anger flaring in her eyes. "He didn't have to eat it!"

"Well, actually," Eren said with a smirk. "Armin says that cats are meat-eaters, and that they can't eat anything else."

"Yeah, well Armin's stupid!" Katrina huffed.

"Who's Armin?" Mikasa asked curiously.

"He's our really smart friend back home," Eren said. "You should come to Shiganshina sometime, you'd love him!"

"Really? Daddy, can we go to Shiganshina soon? Please?"

Mikasa's father laughed and shot his wife a wink. "Well, we'll have to think about it…."

A pair of knocks came from the door, and Mr. Ackermann sighed. "Honestly, who could that be now," he grumbled as he got up to answer it.

He swung open the door and froze. Standing outside were two men, each holding large knives.

"What-"

One of the men struck, stabbing Mr. Ackermann directly in the heart. His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. He drew one last breath, and toppled backward, his body thudding against the wood floor.

Katrina screamed in terror while Mikasa sat frozen in shock. Mrs. Ackermann scrambled to the sink and grabbed a kitchen knife out of it.

"Mikasa, take the Jaegers and run!"

Mikasa didn't move as her mother ran at the two men, brandishing the knife.

One of the men reached out and grabbed Mrs. Ackermann's wrist, halting her in her tracks.

"Calm down," he leered. "Let's put the knife down and make it easier, alright?"

She yelled out as she wrestled free from his grasp and stabbed him in the shoulder, drawing a yell of pain from him.

"RUN!" She screamed back at the children. "GET OUT OF HERE, I-"

She was suddenly cut off as the man lashed out with his knife, stabbing it directly into the side of her head.

Mikasa's eyes widened as her world collapsed around her.

* * *

**Present Day**

Mikasa watched as Armin's tears dripped onto the stone bricks beneath his knees. A part of her wanted to move to comfort him, but her hidden guilt kept her from moving forward and embracing him.

In her eyes, she was the reason Eren, and the rest of her Unit, was dead.

As Armin continued to weep for the loss of his friend, the other survivors of Crimson Squad began to realize the gravity of their situation. Christa and Ymir retreated to the other end of the walkway and began conversing quietly while Conny and Sasha sat down on the ground together, both at a loss for words.

Bertholdt, Reiner, and Annie didn't move. Bertholdt glanced at Reiner, and after a moment, hesitantly stepped forward. He knelt down next to Armin and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Eren died fighting for us," Bertholdt said quietly. After a moment of silence, Reiner stepped forward and knelt on Armin's other side while Annie watched, uncertainty written across her face.

"They all did," Reiner said solemnly.

"This is hopeless," Jean suddenly said as he unclasped his ODM gear, which fell to the ground with a clatter. "I lost two members of my Unit, and Mikasa lost all five of hers! And it's both of our faults! We failed them!"

Mikasa stared at Jean with a hard expression while Marco rounded on him angrily.

"Jean, just shut up for once! Now isn't the time to give up! There are still Titans flooding into the city, we need to get back out there and fight!"

"Marco, look around you!" Jean retorted bitterly. "If we try anything, we'll end up dead, just like all our comrades! It's better to give up and retreat! We may lose Trost, but we'll at least have our lives!"

"We can't retreat," Mikasa suddenly said firmly. She drew one of her swords and held it over her head, trying to make herself sound as confident, as assured, as she possibly could be.

She embraced the memory of the day she decided she would always fight.

* * *

**Seven Years Ago**

Eren's head snapped back as another punch connected, sending him tumbling backward to the ground. Katrina let out another cry of fear while Mikasa sat silently next to her, not having made a sound since watching both of her parents die at the hands of the man beating Eren.

"Stupid kid," the man grunted in annoyance. Eren tried to get back to his feet, but he was already worn down from repeated hits from his captor. "Just stop putting up a fight, it'll make your life a lot easier."

The door to the abandoned hunting cabin suddenly swung open, revealing the second man, who had just returned with a horse and carriage.

"Come on, we gotta go, I…." He groaned at the sight of Eren lying on the ground. "Did you have to keep beating him?"

"He kept fighting back!" The first man insisted. "Just like the mother did, I had no choice!"

The second man narrowed his eyes in anger. "Do you know just how much money you cost us by killing the mother? Orientals fetch extra, and there's hardly any of them left! Now we just have three kids to sell!"

"Ah, relax," the first man said. "You know how much they love kids in Mitras, we'll be fine."

Eren started coughing up blood, and the first man rolled his eyes and advanced towards him. "Come on kid, don't die yet, you're worth a lot of money."

The man grabbed Eren's shoulders and hoisted him to his feet.

That was when Eren struck, grabbing the knife from the man's belt and stabbing him in the stomach with it. The man gasped and fell backward, leaving Eren standing over him with the knife, facing down the second man.

"KATRINA, MIKASA, NOW'S OUR CHANCE!" Eren yelled as he ran forward, determined not to give up.

Right as Eren swung the knife, the man dodged to the side and kicked him in the face, sending Eren stumbling backward. He knocked the knife out of Eren's hands and wrapped his large hands around Eren's throat.

"Damn you, you'll pay for that," the man sneered as Eren started choking.

"NO!" Katrina screamed, scrambling towards the fallen knife. She picked it up and held it out in front of her, hoping to intimidate the man.

"Let my brother go!" She demanded weakly. The man rolled his eyes and got to his feet, leaving Eren lying on the ground gasping for air.

"You know what?" The man said as he pulled his own knife from his belt. "I think I'll kill you both and just take the oriental bitch. She's probably worth more than you two combined anyway."

Eren managed to turn himself over on the ground and panicked at the sight of the man advancing on his sister. He tried to stand, but his body was too exhausted, and he collapsed back onto the ground.

"Mikasa, help her!" He managed to gasp out as he tried to crawl after the man.

Mikasa stared with wide eyes as the man bore down on Katrina. She tried to move, but the overwhelming sense of fear, coupled with the trauma of having just watched both her parents murdered at the hands of this man, kept her frozen in place.

"Get back, please," Katrina begged the man. She clumsily swiped at him with the knife, and he easily sidestepped her swing. With a final, deadly motion, he lunged forward.

As she felt the knife enter her body, Katrina let out a small gasp. Eren's scream filled the small cabin as his sister collapsed to the ground.

"NO! KATRINA!"

The man turned back towards Eren and held up his knife. "Your turn now," he said dispassionately. "Nothing personal, kid. This is just how things are."

Mikasa stared down at Katrina while the man moved towards Eren.

"Eren….it hurts…." Katrina cried softly. She clutched at her knife wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but to no avail.

"MIKASA!" Eren screamed out. "FIGHT! FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Inside Mikasa, something snapped. She had watched both her father and her mother die, and now, through her inaction, Katrina lay dying on the ground in front of her.

If she didn't act now, Eren would also die, and it would be her fault. All her fault.

She glanced at the knife Katrina had been wielding, and she crawled toward it. Grasping it in her small hands, she looked up at the man as he raised his knife over Eren.

Jumping to her feet, she rushed forward and drove the knife into his back. She pushed with all her strength, hoping to kill the man before he could kill Eren. After several seconds, blood started to ooze onto the handle of the knife, and she pulled it from the man's back.

The man didn't make a sound as he slowly toppled to the ground beside Eren, who immediately started desperately crawling past Mikasa towards Katrina.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP US!" Eren screamed in panic as he reached out and grabbed hold of Katrina's hand. He scanned the room desperately for something, anything, to stop the bleeding. "Mikasa, help me," he said desperately as he pressed his hands against Katrina's wound, drawing a scream of pain from the young girl.

Mikasa still didn't move as her face began to well up in tears. The knife dropped from her grasp and clattered on the wooden floor.

"MIKASA, HELP ME!"

"I….I can't," she whispered softly.

Tears slid down Katrina's cheeks as she curled up in her brother's embrace. "Eren," she whimpered. "I'm scared."

Eren squeezed his eyes shut to stop his own tears from falling. His entire body ached, but he didn't care. "It's OK, it's gonna be OK," he lied in vain, hoping that by saying it, it would be true. "I'm not going anywhere."

Katrina stared up at him with absolute fear in her eyes. She opened her mouth to ask one final question, words coming between gasps of air.

"What happened to Yuki?"

At that moment, Eren knew all was lost. He broke at that realization, tears sliding off his face and landing on Katrina's cheeks.

"I don't know," he said miserably. "I'm sorry, Trina. I'll find him, I promise."

Katrina managed a small smile. "Thanks," she whispered.

Eren watched in horror as the light faded from her eyes, and her breathing slowed to a stop.

"Trina," he asked desperately as he began to shake her. "Katrina!"

Katrina's lifeless eyes stared back at him.

"KATRINA!"

* * *

**Present Day**

"The world is a cruel place," Mikasa said coldly to her fellow soldiers. "Yet….it is a beautiful place. Living….living is a miracle."

Mikasa remembered watching Eren's sister die in his arms. In her mind, it had always been a direct result of her inaction.

She swore to herself that day that she would always fight. That she would never stop fighting.

She brought her free hand up to feel the red scarf around her neck. The one that Eren had given to her all those years ago.

"Only the strongest can survive. You don't stand a chance of surviving if you don't fight for your life. That's what Eren taught me a long time ago. He's gone now, along with six of our other friends. The only way to respect their memory is to keep fighting."

Mikasa turned and prepared to jump off the fort and back into the Titan-infested district. The other members of Crimson Squad watched with wide eyes as she drew her other sword.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not going to stop. I won't stop until every last Titan is dead, or I am."

* * *

Mikasa flew through Trost at a breakneck pace, not caring that if she missed a turn or hit a wall, she'd be killed immediately.

All she cared about was killing Titans. The beings that had trapped humanity behind walls, and taken everything from them.

For years, she had never understood Eren's intense hatred of the Titans.

She did now.

With a scream of anger, she twisted her way through a group of Titans, all around 10 meters high. Using the Titans themselves, she swung in and out of the group, dodging outstretched hands and open mouths, focused only on killing each of them with a deadly strike to the back of their necks.

It was only a matter of time before she made a mistake.

It came in the form of a caught cable, snagged on the collapsing body of a Titan she had already killed.

With a yell, Mikasa was yanked out of the air and fell to the ground. She managed to brace her body, but she still felt the impact knock the breath out of her.

She staggered to her feet and looked up, only to find herself surrounded by Titans. She quickly scanned the surrounding area, but there was no opening to fire her ODM gear that wouldn't result in her being grabbed.

"No….this can't be it. I won't give up now!"

Mikasa fired her ODM gear anyway, but the cable that had been snagged by a collapsing Titan didn't respond. She desperately pressed the trigger again and again, but the mechanism was broken.

Mikasa stared up at the Titans, which were closing in around her, with a face of dismay.

It hit her that she was about to die.

"Jean's right. I failed you, Eren. I'm sorry."

Mikasa dropped her swords on the ground, and knelt down, ready to accept her fate.

"I couldn't save you, just like I couldn't save Katrina. I'm so sorry."

A loud boom suddenly cut through the air, followed by a piercing, enraged roar. Mikasa instinctively flinched, and slapped her hands over her ears.

This roar was far louder, and sounded much less human than a Titan roar.

Mikasa opened her eyes. The Titans around her had all turned away from her, facing the direction of the roar. They began to amble away, and within moments, Mikasa was standing alone on the street.

She bent over, placing her hands on her knees and releasing a shaky breath.

Another roar cut through the air, and Mikasa shook her head, shaking off the feeling of hopelessness that had overcome her. She knew that this was her chance.

She picked up her swords and started running through the streets of Trost. It wasn't long before she reached one that gave her a direct view of the source of the roars.

Her eyes widened at the sight.

Standing in the area of Trost where her Unit had been deployed was a gigantic, reptilian monster. Around fifty meters tall, with a row of spiked dorsal plates running down its back, it had enormous, pillar-like legs, clawed hands, a wide, barrel-shaped torso, and a long tail. Covered in dark scales, blood was dripping off its body, and steam was coming out of its mouth.

"An Alpha Titan," Mikasa said softly. But it didn't fit the description of any of the eight Alpha Titans that had attacked Wall Maria six years ago. It looked more like….

"The Alpha Predator?"

Mikasa stared in disbelief. A new Alpha Titan that resembled the one that Armin had told her and Eren about, all those years ago? It didn't make sense. How was it in the middle of Trost? How did it even exist?

The new Alpha Titan turned, and spotted Mikasa on the ground. She could have sworn she saw a spark of recognition in its gaze, before it noticed regular Titans approaching it.

Letting out a roar of anger that rattled shingles and seemed to cut right through Mikasa, the new Alpha Titan charged at the Titans and viciously attacked them, smashing some of them under its feet, leaving only bloody stains on the ground, and grabbing others in its mouth and hurling them across the city, where they splattered against the wall.

To Mikasa, it felt like the world had been turned upside down. An Alpha Titan attacking regular Titans? Nothing like that had ever happened before.

She shook her head as the new Alpha Titan continued its rampage. She tried to think of how Armin would no doubt be responding to this extraordinary new development.

It didn't matter _how_ it was there. All that mattered was that it _was_ there, and it seemed to be obsessed with killing Titans.

Mikasa started running, hoping to run into one of her fellow soldiers. As she ran, she apologized silently to Eren.

_I'm sorry, Eren. Wherever you are, I want you to know._

_I'll never give up again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vogel im Käfig is german for 'bird in a cage', and is the name of one of my favorite tracks from the soundtrack for the first season of Attack on Titan. It's thematically relevant to this chapter, so I decided to use it as the title.
> 
> For Godzilla's appearance at the end of the chapter, at least in my mind, I'm using the design from the 2014 'Godzilla' film, not the 2019 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters' design (though he may or may not receive his 2019 design down the line. ;)
> 
> And how about that awesome trailer for season 4? Before it came out, I actually hadn't read the manga, but after seeing the trailer, I couldn't wait any longer, and so far, everything I've read is just getting me more excited for season 4!
> 
> Finally, I'm curious to hear what you guys think about Katrina. Giving Eren a younger sister, who gets killed along with Mikasa's parents, fundamentally changes the backstory for both characters, and I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> -AlphaBeta17 (6/2/20)


	8. Godzilla

When the Titan's jaws closed around Eren, entrapping him in darkness, he had only one reaction.

Sheer, utter panic.

Letting out a scream of terror, he tried to stand, but his feet slipped on the wet, slimy surface beneath his feet.

The Titan's tongue.

Revulsion spread through Eren's stomach, and coupled with the overwhelming stench of rotting flesh and human blood, he vomited, turning on his side while he tried to gasp for air.

With a sudden, powerful movement, the organ beneath him began to move. Sliding up and cupping Eren, he found himself being pushed to the back of the Titan's mouth, where the entrance to its throat loomed, promising only further horrors.

Eren desperately scrambled, trying to grab onto something, onto anything, but it was no use.

Screaming as he went, Eren slid down the Titan's throat. Seconds later, he was spat out into its stomach, where he landed in a pool of rancid, steaming liquid.

Eren's skin began to burn immediately, and in a daze, he realized that he was in the Titan's stomach, and the liquid was its stomach acid.

He suddenly found himself thrown to the side as the Titan collapsed to the ground, causing the contents of its stomach to shift as the direction of gravity changed. Eren screamed in agony as the acid was thrown directly into his face, blinding him as several half-dissolved human bodies fell directly on top of him.

Lying beneath the bodies, submerged in the bubbling, corrosive liquid, Eren writhed in pain. In a panic, he managed to use what little strength he had left to push himself to the surface, where he gasped for air as he blindly shoved the other bodies to the side.

That's all he was now. Another body in the stomach of a Titan.

"HELP! HELP ME!"

Eren's screams sounded in his own ears, but they weren't reaching Mikasa, who unbeknownst to him was crouched on top of the Titan's body, only a few feet away from him.

"MIKASA! ARMIN! ANYONE! PLEASE, SAVE ME!"

Long after she had left, he continued to scream for help. Eventually, his hoarse voice gave way to broken sobs. Delirious, in pain, and with no hope left, he cried out to the three people he knew he would be seeing soon.

"Mom….Dad….Katrina…."

It was all over. He had been eaten.

He was already dead.

* * *

Eren wandered through a white fog as voices echoed around him.

"Hello?" He called out cautiously. "Is anyone there?"

Faint whispers were the only answer he got. He shivered, wrapping his arms around his body as he wandered aimlessly.

_What is this place? Am I in Hell?_

A voice cut through the fog, and in this case, Eren could understand it. "I'm glad it's not real."

Eren froze at the sound of that voice. "Mikasa?" He turned to face the direction her voice had come from. "Is that you?"

"It might try to destroy us."

_That's definitely Mikasa's voice….but it sounds so much younger than she does now…._

_Wait._

_Is this from a memory?_

"Mikasa!" Eren yelled as he ran in the direction of her voice. The fog swirled around him as he ran, and within moments, he found himself lost.

"Where are you?!" He cried out desperately.

"Eren, listen to me. You need to run, now!"

Eren spun around in shock. That was his mother's voice, from right before she died.

"MOM!" Eren screamed as he ran towards that voice. But that memory quickly faded, and was replaced by a succession of others.

"We just want to go home."

_Bertholdt._

"Don't act like a child, you're better than that."

_Reiner._

"Do I look like I care?"

_Annie._

"Eren. Your mother would be proud of you, and how far you've come."

_Armin._

The white fog suddenly turned dark, and an unfamiliar voice cut through the mist to speak next to Eren.

"Listen, brat. If you don't do exactly what I say, I won't hesitate for a second to kill you."

_Who the hell is that?_

"EREN! DON'T KILL HER!"

_Christa? I don't remember her ever saying that to me….and why is she screaming?_

"Eren, you must come with me."

_What's going on? I don't know who this is, and I don't remember anyone ever saying this!_

"To surpass monsters, you must be willing to abandon your humanity."

_Was that Armin? I don't understand!_

"We die, trusting the living to find meaning in our lives."

Eren placed his hands over his ears as he tried to block out the voices. He sank to his knees as everything closed in on him.

"If you aren't careful, you'll kill us all!"

"I'm sorry, Eren. I know you won't forgive us, but this is something we have to do."

"They're all dead, you suicidal bastard! And it's your fault!"

"Someone, help me!" Eren cried out, hoping to escape the dark, foggy plain. "Anyone, please!"

"If we die, at least we'll die together."

"Remember, everything I did, I did for you."

"HELP ME!" Eren screamed as the void faded around him.

* * *

"Eren. Wake up."

Eren slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground underneath a tree. The branches were empty of leaves, and the sky above was gray, with soft snowflakes drifting down and landing on his face. The location seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't place it. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, before quickly grasping at his leg, panic flooding his veins. To his surprise, he didn't flinch in pain as he clutched the place where he knew that it had just been broken.

"Eren," the same voice said softly. Eren turned, and his eyes widened in shock.

_It can't be…._

"Dad?"

Eren's father gave his son a sad smile. "Hi, Eren. It's…." He stopped, hesitation written on his face, and he exhaled slowly. "You've….you've grown."

Eren stared at his father with a look of confusion, which quickly morphed into one of anger. He had dealt with his father's disappearance by shutting away any emotions about him, and focusing on moving forward. But now, he was being forced to confront his painful feelings head on. Eren's fists tightened as he got to his feet, a betrayed expression etched on his face.

"Dad," Eren said, his voice cracking with the hurt of a son abandoned by his father. "Where were you? Where have you been all these years?"

Grisha Jaeger looked at the ground guiltily before speaking, pain laced in every word that passed his lips. "I'm so sorry, Eren. I didn't want to put you in this situation. Since you're here, and you can see and hear me, that means that you're about to activate your power for the first time."

Eren narrowed his eyes as a memory which had been seemingly erased from his recollection came flooding back into his mind. He remembered how his father had panicked, and dragged him into the forest away from any prying eyes, and….

"You…." Eren said as it dawned on him. "You injected me with something. Something from the back of your neck. Then, I watched your body crumble into dust."

Grisha nodded, his expression filled with maddening understanding. "Yes, that's what happened to the person who gave me the power as well. I lost all memory of the injection until my very first transformation."

Eren lurched forward on unsteady legs and grabbed his father's shoulders. While he still wasn't quite as tall as his father yet, he no longer had to stare up at him, either. Sinking his fingers into his father's flesh, Eren managed to speak through clenched teeth.

"What did you do to me? I'm already dead, aren't I? I was eaten by a goddamned Titan, and now I've been sent to Hell with you? You, my father, who abandoned me when I needed you most?"

Grisha didn't say anything in response, choosing to stare sadly as his son lowered his head to hide the tears that were starting to form in his eyes.

"Did you even stop to consider what it would be like for me to lose both of my parents, one after the other?" Eren's voice was rising in volume as his breathing started to deepen. His eyes grew red with fury, and when he raised his head to stare into his father's eyes, a shiver trailed down Grisha's spine. "I still can't decide which was worse. Watching my own mother get devoured like an animal in front of my eyes, or waking up to find out that my father had vanished. That he had abandoned me."

Grisha looked away in shame as his son's venomous voice struck at his heart like a viper.

"You know how I know that we're in Hell, Dad?" Eren whispered in a seething rage.

Grisha could barely open his mouth to respond. He had wanted to use the chance to see his son to inform him about the world as it truly was, but reason seemed to be far from Eren's mind.

"How?" Grisha managed to croak.

Eren's voice spoke in a twisted, demented snarl. "I don't see Mom or Katrina."

Grisha's resolve crumbled. With shaking legs, he sank to his knees, and managed to force himself to say what he had been wanting to tell his son his whole life. "Eren. I came from outside the walls."

Eren didn't react at first as he stared down at the pathetic man before him. After several moments, however, the revelation began to sink in.

"That's not possible," Eren said slowly. "You're lying to me."

"No, it's true!" Grisha said desperately. "You have to believe me-"

"Shut up!" Eren shouted, cutting his father off. "You lied to me. You abandoned me!"

"Wait, Eren! That's not true, I-"

"SHUT UP!" Eren screamed as he lashed out at his father, his fist connecting with the older man's face. Eren saw red as he continued his onslaught, relishing the feeling of bone cracking under the force of his blows, and the whimpers that he drew from the man he once trusted.

It felt good. It felt powerful.

It felt like freedom.

"You're a monster," Eren spat out in disgust. "You're no better than the Titans. And you know what I swore I would do to every last one of them?"

Grisha raised his hands in a feeble attempt to protect his face, but before Eren's next punch could land, both of them began to dissipate. Eren's fist swung through Grisha's body like air as the sky above them darkened, and began to close in around them.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I SWORE TO DO?!" Eren screamed in a primal rage, oblivious to the fading void around them.

"I SWORE TO KILL THEM ALL!"

* * *

A bolt of red lightning struck the dead Titan that had eaten Eren. With a deep, explosive blast, the Titan's body blew apart, and in its place, a towering, reptilian monster appeared. Its mouth opening in a resounding roar, the monster's pillar-like feet slammed into the ground, demolishing buildings with its sheer size as bone and muscle materialized seemingly from thin air. As its roar died down, steam began to pour out of its mouth, and coupled with the boiling Titan blood that was dripping off its body, it was as if a god had descended to Earth, intent on mingling with mortal man.

With a long, whip-like tail held aloft in the air behind it, and its arms hanging in front of its body, it slowly began to move. Breathing hard, every breath a labored gasp of smoky air, it turned its head upward and gazed at the yellow sky. Shelled eyelids blinked slowly as its slitted pupils began to focus, before a small flash of movement caught its attention.

Not too far above it, a flock of birds was flying south. Mesmerized by the fluidity of their flight and the glint of sunlight off their shiny wings, the monster turned its head, following the motion of the feathered creatures. When the birds crested over the top of the wall surrounding Trost, the monster felt an all-consuming rage overtake it. The wall was as tall as it was, and save for a single collapsed section right in front of it, it surrounded the monster on all sides.

Following a sharp inhale of breath, the monster let out another piercing, enraged roar of anger that shook the very foundations of Trost. It reverberated through the streets, shattering windows and pounding the eardrums of every living creature within several miles. Time seemed to stop for a moment, as if nature itself was welcoming the return of one of its favored creations.

After the thunder-like roar came to an end, the monster lowered its head and gazed across the city, gaining its bearings. Slowly swinging its head from side to side, whether by fate or chance, it noticed a creature come around a corner and stare up at it. With pale skin, black hair, and a red scarf, the small creature stared up at the monster from several streets away.

_Mikasa._

It stared down at her for several seconds, and for a moment, it could almost be described as calm.

That is, before it noticed several Titans ambling towards it. Anger consumed its vision, and it surged forward, its feet demolishing houses as it went. Letting out another roar, it charged at the Titans and began to viciously attack them in a bloody frenzy.

* * *

For the monster, the ensuing battle was a blur that could best be described as uncontrolled destruction. Rampaging all over the city, it wasn't a battle for the Titans. It was wholesale slaughter, fueled by a deep-seated anger that came from the very heart of the being who now possessed the power of the monster. Every part of its colossal body was used as a weapon of mass destruction, and was responsible for the deaths of many Titans….and civilians who hadn't escaped the city in time.

Its tail was used like a whip, creating sonic booms as it swung in wide arcs that sliced through bone and flesh, painting the streets of Trost with the blood of the Titans.

Its feet were used to crush Titans underfoot, and its hands were used to pick up Titans and throw them across the city, where they impacted on the stone walls and left bloody stains.

Its mouth was used to pick up the mindless monsters, and using its several-foot-long teeth, it mashed them into wads of fleshy pulp that were then deposited on the ground as it continued onto its next victim.

The unluckier Titans were swallowed whole, and in the stomach of the mighty beast, they came to know the fear of being devoured. In their final moments, they would uncharacteristically scream, crying for help as if they had once been humans with their own fears and hopes.

For the humans themselves in Trost, the experience was far from pleasant.

Many civilians were caught in the crossfire of the monster's wrath, and while their fates may have been preferable to being consumed alive, one would be incorrect in stating that being crushed underfoot was a much more appealing option.

For the soldiers, there were several different reactions. Among the more experienced veterans, who were concentrated in the northern sector of the city, reactions ranged from fits of madness to quiet acceptance of the existence of a ninth Alpha Titan. Some, like Captain Woermann, were reduced to sputtering fits of rage and disbelief. Others, like Major Rico, were unresponsive beyond a stiffened posture and a deepened scowl.

For the surviving young soldiers of Crimson Squad, the range was just as severe. After collecting the missing Mikasa and equipping her with a working set of ODM gear, the eleven survivors retreated to the top of the wall, where some broke down, while others shut down.

All the while, the reptilian monster raged in the city, killing every last Titan.

* * *

Just as the sun was starting to dip beneath the wall, the monster came to a stop. Glancing up at it, Mikasa got to her feet in nervous anticipation. Drawing her swords, she was joined by Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie, and together, the four of them braced for whatever was about to happen.

It came in the form of a surprisingly mournful cry from the monster, as it seemed to realize that there was not a single remaining Titan left in all of Trost. Pain radiated from every pore of its tired, scaly body, and as it began to make its way towards the opening in the wall, Mikasa narrowed her eyes and pushed her hesitations aside, preparing to jump.

"Mikasa…." Armin's quiet voice startled her, and she turned to him with a concerned expression as he shakily got to his feet. It was the first thing he had said all day, ever since finding out that Eren had been eaten.

"Armin?" She asked softly.

"There's something about this Alpha Titan….that I…." Armin's voice faltered as he hesitated. "I can't put my finger on it, but the way it moves, the way it roars, even its angry expressions….they all seem familiar."

Mikasa turned back to the Alpha Titan as it stopped in front of the opening in the wall, and felt a shiver run down her spine. It couldn't be a coincidence. It looked exactly like the Alpha Predator described in Armin's storybooks, and now, he was saying that its very presence felt familiar. Coupled with her own growing suspicions of familiarity, she couldn't shake the sense of not everything being as it seemed.

The Alpha Titan was just about to try to squeeze through the opening in the wall when suddenly, one of its legs slipped. Landing on its knee, the massive creature managed to maintain its upright position for another moment, before tipping forward and landing with a booming crash, its body wedged in the space where the wall had been bashed in.

Armin's eyes widened in shock. "It just sealed the breach!" He cried out, jumping to his feet excitedly. He turned to Mikasa with an expression that was reminiscent of their younger days, when not everything was lost. Soon, the other members of Crimson Squad were on their feet as well. Conny and Sasha both tiredly waved their fists in the air in triumph, while Marco and Christa both couldn't stop smiling. Even Jean and Ymir, both usually beacons of negativity, visibly brightened.

There was hope to be had yet.

An eruption of steam from the back of the Alpha Titan's neck startled the young soldiers. Even from their point further down the wall, they were still suddenly hit with a wave of putrid-smelling flesh.

"What the-" Ymir suddenly said, her eyes wide in disbelief. "Do you guys see that?"

"Huh?" Christa said in confusion. "I don't see anything-"

Mikasa leapt off the wall and engaged her ODM gear. Swinging over to the fallen monster's body, she landed on the back of its neck and began to crawl towards the collapsed figure she could have sworn she just saw emerge.

A part of her wanted to be wrong. A part of her didn't want to believe it. She knew that if what she had seen was correct, then things were about to get a lot more complicated. She knew that it would bring about a world of pain and confusion.

Another part of her didn't care. All that part of her wanted was to see her friend again. The one she had thought was lost forever.

Even when she was holding him in her arms, even when her fellow soldiers gasped his name as they landed next to her, even after retreating back to the top of the wall, even when she saw his face by the light of the setting sun on top of the wall, she still didn't believe it.

She didn't believe Eren was alive until she pressed her ear to his chest and heard the faint thumping of his ridiculously stubborn heart.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Well, I'm back.

I apologize for vanishing for a couple of months, especially at such an important moment in the story. A combination of factors led to me basically walking away from writing for a time, foremost being burnout. It's clear to me now that attempting to update two different stories weekly was a bit too much for me to handle, and so in order to prevent myself from burning out again, I'm going to slow down big time.

If you came back to read this, thank you so much, it really means a lot to me. I can't promise when the next chapter will be, but I'll try to get it out within the next couple of weeks. The first chapter of Part III of my Evangelion X Godzilla story will also be uploaded sometime over the weekend, so if any of you have also been reading that, keep an eye out for it. Thanks again!

-AlphaBeta17 (8/13/20)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm back.
> 
> I apologize for vanishing for a couple of months, especially at such an important moment in the story. A combination of factors led to me basically walking away from writing for a time, foremost being burnout. It's clear to me now that attempting to update two different stories weekly was a bit too much for me to handle, and so in order to prevent myself from burning out again, I'm going to slow down big time.
> 
> If you came back to read this, thank you so much, it really means a lot to me. I can't promise when the next chapter will be, but I'll try to get it out within the next couple of weeks. The first chapter of Part III of my Evangelion X Godzilla story will also be uploaded sometime over the weekend, so if any of you have also been reading that, keep an eye out for it. Thanks again!
> 
> -AlphaBeta17 (8/13/20)


	9. Fallout

Armin stood with the other surviving members of Crimson Squad, watching as Mikasa quietly sobbed into Eren’s chest. Clutching his unconscious body, she looked afraid to let him go, like he would vanish if she relinquished her grip on him. Armin stepped forward, kneeling down next to his two closest friends and reaching out to touch Eren’s neck. The faint pulse under his fingertips was all the confirmation he needed. Eren was alive.

Armin felt a shudder run down his body. It felt like something out of a dream. To lose a close friend in what seemed like such a definitively final way, then to have him return alive against all logic, it was almost more than he could handle. What’s more, this wasn’t the first time he had dealt with the loss of a childhood friend. Only that time, it had been soul-crushingly permanent.

He had never forgotten the day he found out that Katrina had been killed. How he had run off and gotten lost in the streets of Shiganshina, only to be found by the new girl, Mikasa, who had chased after him. How she had sat down by his side and wrapped her arms around him, telling him quietly that it would be OK. How amazed he had been that a girl who had just lost both of her parents in such a gruesome manner was comforting him, and not the other way around.

He remembered how he had argued with Eren that they should accept Mikasa as their friend, and that it had taken Eren’s parents stepping in to get their son to relent. Though Eren had never fully let go of his grudge against Mikasa, over the years, he had slowly grown to the point that, while he wouldn’t outright admit it, he cared deeply for her. After all, according to Mikasa, Eren had only been eaten because he had shoved her out of the way, sacrificing himself so that she could live.

Armin let out a small sigh. First, he had lost his parents when they tried to go over the walls, and were eaten within the hour. Soon afterwards, Katrina had been killed, and Armin had lost one of his only friends. Barely a year later, Wall Maria had fallen, and his grandfather was one of the many unlucky souls who had taken part in the failed operation to reclaim it. Now, he had almost lost Eren and Mikasa. How much longer before someone else he loved was killed?

As the sky continued to darken, Armin shook his head, forcing himself to come back to the present. He had already broken down earlier, when they had all thought Eren was dead, while Mikasa had stayed strong. Staring at her sobbing form, he knew that right now, he needed to be the strong one. Trying to distract himself from a well of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him, he started going through the logical possibilities of how this could have happened.

“Bertholdt,” Reiner suddenly said, turning to his tall, quiet friend with wide eyes. “This….this changes everything, doesn’t it.” The normally self-assured Unit leader looked shaken, and Bertholdt’s wordless nod only served to heighten his uneasy look.

Annie’s expression took on a distant air as she turned away from the group and stared at the horizon to the south. Conny and Sasha both sat down, looking apprehensive of what was to come. Ymir seemed frozen in shock, while Christa was wringing her hands nervously.

“Eren’s a Titan,” Jean muttered to himself, bending over and placing his hands on his knees, looking like he was about to keel over in shock. “Eren’s a Titan. Eren’s a Titan.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself that it wasn’t true.

Marco placed a concerned hand on Jean’s shoulder, his brows crinkling with worry. “Nothing like this has ever been seen before. People are going to want answers. Powerful people, like the Garrison, the Military Police, and even the Royal Family themselves. Everyone’s attention will be on Eren, and by extension, us.”

Ymir, normally unflappable and sarcastic, collapsed onto her knees, placing her hands on the back of her head and taking several deep breaths. Christa wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulders and stared worriedly at her. “What are we going to do?” Ymir whispered.

Reiner rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath. He was a Unit leader, and he needed to take charge of the situation. “Alright, everyone. Here’s the deal, if no one has any objections. I say we move Eren to a safe location, preferably outside of Trost for the time being.”

“What?” Annie said as she whirled around. She stalked over to Reiner and grasped his shoulder, glaring at him with deadly intensity. “What you’re suggesting would be ignoring the chain of command. We should take Eren to the proper authorities now, while he’s unconscious. It would be a lot safer that way, since we don’t know what he’ll do when he wakes up.”

Reiner uncomfortably shrugged out of Annie’s grasp. “No, that’s not a good idea. We need to be careful. This is uncharted territory, and I don’t want to make any rash decisions.”

Bertholdt nodded in agreement, turning to Annie with a pensive expression. “Annie, what we do right now is very important. We need time to figure out the correct course of action.”

Annie rolled her eyes in frustration. “Eren’s dangerous. He’s a threat. If we don’t take him in now, we might not get the chance later. What if he wakes up, and tries to fight us?”

“Eren’s not a threat.” Armin’s voice was firm as he got to his feet. He turned to stare at Annie, not backing down when she glared at him with her signature stony gaze. “I don’t know what happened out there, but it’s apparent that Eren is somehow connected to this new Alpha Titan. We need to operate cautiously, since we still know so little. For a start, why is its body still there?”

Marco involuntarily gasped in shock. “Hey, you’re right! According to eyewitness reports, all eight of the Alpha Titans that attacked the Wall Maria districts six years ago vanished into thin air after they accomplished their goals, yet this one hasn’t!” He gestured at the enormous corpse wedged in the opening in the wall, which showed no signs of disappearing.

“Exactly,” Armin said as he gave Marco a thankful nod. “Seeing Eren come out of it also makes me wonder if all eight of the other Alpha Titans also had a person inside of them, and if they did, whether or not the person was in control.”

The group fell dead silent at the implication of what Armin was saying.

“Hey,” Ymir spoke up, her tone accusatory as she glared at Armin, who, once again, didn’t back down. “How did this even happen? You and Mikasa are closest to Eren; did you know anything about this?” 

“We didn’t,” Armin responded without missing a beat. “That’s why we need to be careful. We should wait until Eren wakes up, and then ask him what happened out there. I don’t know if he planned for this to happen, and if he did, he certainly never told any of us about it.”

“Maybe he’s working with the other Alpha Titans,” Jean mumbled under his breath. “After all, each of the four Wall Maria districts was attacked by two Alpha Titans, not one.” He straightened up, and gave Armin a harsh, penetrating glare. “You were in Shiganshina. Which other Alpha Titan attacked there with Behemoth?”

Armin momentarily froze as he remembered the eight-legged monster that had broken through the interior wall of Shiganshina. How its warbling roar had seemed to vibrate in his very bones, even from the safety of the ferry.

“It was Kiseiga,” Armin said distantly. “As with all three of the other districts, one monster broke through the outer wall of the city, letting normal Titans in, and then a second monster finished the job by breaking the inner wall, letting the Titans into the land between Rose and Maria. All four districts had a pair, yet only one appeared here in Trost. I wonder what that means….” Armin trailed off as his mind started whirling again. 

“See?” Jean snarled, his distaste for Eren fueling his accusation. “Maybe Eren’s replaced Kiseiga somehow. Maybe he was only killing Titans because he wanted the opportunity to kill us all himself!”

“No,” a quiet voice said. Everyone turned to face Mikasa, who had gotten to her feet, and was holding Eren’s unconscious form in her arms. Her face was composed and steady, completely devoid of the outpouring of emotion she had just displayed. “Eren’s on our side. He may not have been fully in control of himself, but his motivation was as clear as it’s always been. After all, what has he always been obsessed with?”

Jean looked down, unable to meet Mikasa’s gaze. Marco answered for him, giving Mikasa a knowing look. “He always wanted to kill Titans, and if he was in control, then that’s exactly what he was doing out there.”

Mikasa nodded, and then turned to Armin. “I’ll trust your judgment on what to do. Should we take Eren away to a safe location, or bring him to the Garrison now, and explain everything?”

Armin faltered as all eyes turned to him again, this time with anticipation for his answer. He glanced at Reiner and Bertholdt, who both seemed to be advocating for taking Eren away from Trost for the time being, and then to Annie and Jean, who wanted to turn Eren over to the authorities. He thought through the possible outcomes of both decisions, and how the world at large would view their actions. Whatever he decided now could have long-lasting implications, so he needed to think carefully.

“Armin,” Annie softly said, walking over to him with purposeful strides. He expected to see anger or frustration, but when he looked at her face, her eyes conveyed a sense of pleading that he had never seen from her before. “If we don’t try to cooperate with the people in power, if we try to hide things from them, what will they think of us?”

Armin knew right then what he was going to do. As much as he worried for Eren’s safety, in the long term, he knew that it would probably be better to not hide from the authorities. He would have to trust in the powers that be, or risk condemning both himself and his friends as traitors.

Armin slowly nodded. “You’re right, Annie. I propose we take Eren to the north end of the city, and explain everything we know to Captain Woermann. Hopefully, by complying with them, they’ll be more likely to trust us.”

Annie gave Armin a brief smile, and he felt his cheeks flush slightly. “Thanks, Armin,” she said with a hint of warmth.

Reiner let out a frustrated huff. “I still don’t think this is a good idea, but if Armin thinks that’s the best choice, then I’ll go along with it. Jean, Mikasa, are we in agreement?”

Mikasa nodded somberly, while Jean rolled his eyes in exasperation and folded his arms. “Fine. But if he ends up killing all of us, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

* * *

Armin stood nervously besides his friends in the cold, underground prison cell that they were being held in. Standing in front of them, staring through the metal bars, was Captain Woermann, the highest-ranking officer of the Garrison in Trost District. He had a threatening expression on his face, and for a brief moment, Armin thought that he would have rathered face the Titans again. That is, until he remembered the smell of blood and death that still clung to his body, hours after the destruction ended.

“So,” Woermann began, his voice hoarse and throaty from all the yelling he had done at each of them earlier. “We’ve interrogated all eleven of you over the past few hours, and your stories appear to match up. After being assigned to the Vanguard defense at the south end of the city, Reiner Braun’s unit was assigned to the east, Jean Kirschtein’s unit was assigned to the west, and Mikasa Ackermann’s was assigned to the center. In the carnage that followed, Kirschtein’s unit lost two members; Nack Tierce and Milieus Zeremski, and Ackermann’s unit lost four; Thomas Wagner, Mina Carolina, Hannah Diament, and Franz Kefka. Everything correct?”

Armin nodded along with his fellow prisoners, though it was a reluctant nod. So far, things weren’t going nearly as well as he’d hoped. As soon as they had met back up with the rest of the Garrison at the north end of Trost, they’d all been placed under arrest and locked up immediately, with Eren being carted off in chains, despite still being unconscious. Mikasa had resisted of course, but after several shotguns had been aimed at her, she reluctantly backed down. Rico had tried to reason with Woermann, but he had shut her down immediately, ordering her to stay with Eren at all times, and to keep a close watch on him. It was now the dead of night, and no news had been given about Eren’s current condition.

“So everything was going normally,” Woermann continued, “until Eren Jaeger was eaten, and presumed dead. Then, soon afterwards, a bolt of red lightning struck the approximate location in Trost where Jaeger was consumed. A new, never-before-seen Alpha Titan appeared, which- ah, who came up with the name Godzilla?”

Everyone in the cell turned to Conny, who shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, I thought it sounded cool. All the other Alpha Titans have names, so shouldn’t this one have one as well?”

Woermann let out a huff. “Fine. Anyway, ‘Godzilla’ appeared, and according to all of you, went on a rampage with the sole goal of killing every Titan in Trost. I should note, however, that from our vantage point at the north end of the city, it appeared that its destruction was indiscriminate between humans and Titans.”

“Wait, what? Where are you getting that from?!” Sasha suddenly said, indignation crossing her face.

“Yeah,” Christa said as she frowned at Woermann. “Besides, it's clear that it wasn’t trying to kill humans, and-”

“Hey, I didn’t tell you to speak!” Woermann snapped. “Nobody asked for your input, so keep your damn mouth shut while the adults figure this out!”

Ymir’s eyes widened, and before anyone could stop her, she was lunging forward, reaching through the bars and trying to grab the Captain. 

“Hey! You can’t talk to her like that!” Ymir snarled furiously, while everyone else tried to hold her back. Woermann stepped forward and grabbed Ymir’s outstretched hand, twisting it at an agonizing angle. A loud crack filled the air, and Ymir let out a yell of pain.

“If you don’t back down right now,” Woermann said viciously, “I’ll have you put to death for attempting to attack an officer!” He released Ymir, who yanked her arm back through the bars and clutched her wrist with a grimace. Christa shot Woermann a glare and carefully grabbed Ymir’s hand, inspecting it for damage.

“As I was saying,” Woermann continued. “Godzilla caused the deaths of many Titans and humans. After some time, it made its way to the break in the wall left by Behemoth, and collapsed, conveniently sealing the gap, and preventing any more Titans from entering the city. Then, instead of its body disappearing, like every other Alpha Titan before it, Eren Jaeger appeared from the back of its neck, miraculously alive, with the broken leg he received earlier in the battle having somehow healed perfectly.”

Armin nervously stepped forward, nodding his head hesitantly. “Well, yes, but there’s still so much we don’t know. Is Eren awake yet? If you let us talk to him, maybe we could figure out how this happened. He may have even not had any knowledge that this would happen, and he might not have been in control of Godzilla during its rampage!”

Woermann bristled at Armin’s words and glared at him with an air of superiority. “Eren Jaeger’s current location is top secret, and none of you are going to see him. He is a prisoner of Eldia, and will be held in a secure facility until we decide how to deal with him. That’s all for now.” With that, Woermann turned and stalked off.

“Well, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Armin admitted.

“You think?” Conny said with a snort. “They’ll probably never release us now!”

“Hey, let’s try to think positively,” Marco said with a weak smile. “We know Eren’s still alive, and they haven’t separated all of us, so at least we’re still together.”

Jean let out a low groan, annoyance laced through his words. “Damn it, Marco. Things couldn’t be worse! Why do you always have to try and act like everything’s OK, even when it’s not!? It’s naive, and just plain dumb!”

Hurt filled Marco’s eyes, and he turned away from Jean in shame.

“Jean!” Conny snapped, coming to Marco’s defense. “Knock it off, you dumbass!”

“Hey, it’s not like I’m lying!” Jean scoffed

“Really?” Sasha said angrily. “Things could be way worse! You don’t have to be a jerk!”

“Oh, come on,” Ymir said as she rolled her eyes, pulling her hand out of Christa’s grasp, frowning slightly at the pain. “Jean has a point. Everything’s really screwed up right now, and there’s no point in pretending otherwise. Marco, you really need to stop making a fool out of yourself.”

Christa rounded on Ymir with a fierce look on her face. “Hey!” She barked, her small size hiding a sharp and authoritative voice. “Cut it out! Just a minute ago Woermann disrespected me, and now you go and do the same to our friend?”

Armin let out a sigh of frustration as quarrelling voices filled the prison cell. Already, everyone was turning on each other, while Eren was still out there, in the hands of people who wouldn’t give a damn about his well-being. They were supposed to be a team, yet they seemed more divided than ever. He tried to catch Mikasa’s eye, but she was already turning away, going to sit in a corner and pointedly pulling her scarf up to cover her face.

Armin knew better than to try to disturb Mikasa when she hid behind her scarf. He made his way to the far side of the cell, and slowly collapsed to the floor, putting his head in his hands. Exhaustion was starting to get to him, and the loud, angry voices weren’t helping. Behemoth had attacked in the middle of the day, and Eren had come out of Godzilla right when the sun was setting. Now, it was well past midnight, and Armin hadn’t slept in almost 20 hours. A headache was starting to form, and he felt like he was going crazy.

Someone sat down next to Armin, and he turned to find Annie right next to him. She was slouched over with her arms around her legs, and her head was resting on her knees. She looked as exhausted as Armin felt.

“Annie. You all right?” Armin asked gently.

“Shut up,” she said, her voice filled with tiredness. Her expression was distant, like her mind was miles away, contemplating the extraordinary events of the past day. “You’re the only half-tolerable person I know, so don’t make me change my mind about being somewhat glad you survived the attack yesterday.”

Armin managed a small smile in response. “Coming from you, that means a lot.” He hesitantly reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. Annie flinched, but after several seconds, she relaxed, allowing Armin to finish his thought. 

“....Thank you.”

Annie glanced at Armin, and for a second, he could have sworn he saw surprised warmth in her eyes. Her expression quickly darkened however, and she looked away, unable to look at him as slight shame crossed her face.

“I’m….” Annie paused, like she had just swallowed something distasteful. “I’m sorry I convinced you to listen to me. Now we’re all locked up, and Eren could be anywhere. At the time, I thought that preventing Reiner and Bertholdt from going rogue was the most important thing to do. Looking back now….” Annie let out a sigh. “I should’ve acted when I had the chance.”

Armin shook his head. “It’s alright. It was the safest option, after all. I don’t blame you one bit. It was my decision, and everyone agreed to go with it. If anything, I’m the one who should be sorry.”

Annie’s expression morphed into one of annoyance. “Stop that. You’re smart enough to know that this isn’t your fault. Don’t beat yourself up over something beyond your control. It’s childish. You’re not a child, are you?”

Armin shrugged his shoulders helplessly, removing his hand from Annie’s shoulder. “Sometimes, it feels like I still am. Like I’m still that kid that watched Behemoth break through Wall Maria. That day, it felt like the world ended. I was forced to leave my home, and my friends and I were soon alone. None of us had any parents anymore, and my grandfather was killed in that failed operation to reclaim Wall Maria.”

Armin sat quietly for several moments, lost in memory, when his thoughts were broken by Annie reaching over and taking his hand. He looked at her in surprise, and he couldn’t help but feel his cheeks redden. She wasn’t meeting his eyes, and if he didn’t think it was crazy, he would’ve said that she looked slightly embarrassed.

“I’m sorry about your grandfather,” Annie said softly, staring off into the distance as her voice took on a contrite tone. “I’m sorry that all of this has happened to you. I know what it feels like, to have your life uprooted in an instant.” Armin recalled the day where Annie had hit him, and how she had mentioned that she had been at Holst District, and seen Methuselah and Scylla. He shivered, wondering what had been going through her mind on that day. “If I could go back, and change how things went,” Annie said with a hint of longing in her voice, “I would.”

Armin carefully gave Annie’s hand a small squeeze. “None of us can change what happened,” he gently said. “All we can do is try to live with the consequences, and keep moving forward.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Annie said distantly. She finally turned to meet his gaze, and a flicker of red colored her pale face. “Why….why have you always been kind to me? I never made any effort to be your friend, yet you’re the closest thing I have to one.”

“Well,” Armin began as he tried to not panic at being put on the spot. Holding hands with Annie was certainly not helping his nervousness. “When things go wrong, Mikasa responds with conviction and drive. Eren responds with anger and violence. I guess….I respond by trying to be rational and kind.”

Annie’s expression was unreadable as she searched his face for signs of dishonesty. When she couldn’t find any, she let out a frustrated groan, but didn’t let go of his hand. “You’re an idiot,” she said as she shook her head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is actually quite different from what I originally had planned. I decided while writing it to make it a chapter (somewhat) dedicated to Armin, after Mikasa had chapter 7 dedicated to her, and Eren had chapter 8 dedicated to him. While it doesn’t exclusively focus on him, like the previous two chapters did almost entirely with their respective characters, he’s still the one who receives the most attention, and is the one whose perspective I described. A lot of the stuff planned for this chapter, mainly the ‘trial’ (or lack thereof, wink wink,) has been moved to the next chapter.
> 
> Eventually, over the course of the overarching Attack on Titan X Godzilla story, which will span three installments, all six of the other Alpha Titans, besides Godzilla, Behemoth, and Kiseiga (just a reminder, the M.U.T.O from 2014’s Godzilla) will be revealed and get time to shine, don’t worry! 
> 
> Also of note: Godzilla is not radioactive in this story (despite the title of this chapter). 
> 
> There will be fifteen chapters in each installment, so we’re more than halfway through the first one, Alpha Predator. Readers familiar with the manga/anime will no doubt notice that so far, I’ve followed the basic storyline from the first half of season 1, what with Wall Maria being breached, Eren’s mother being eaten, the trio going through training for several years, Trost getting attacked, and Eren transforming into a Titan after being eaten himself. While much of the characterization and background have been changed already (such as the addition of Eren’s younger sister, Katrina), the next few chapters are where we start to drastically diverge from the story originally told, and I hope you all enjoy it! 
> 
> -AlphaBeta17 (8/27/20)


	10. Burning Revelation

When the cell door creaked open, Mikasa shot to her feet with the lightning-quick reflexes of a hunter about to ambush its unsuspecting prey. She leapt forward, past her sleeping fellow prisoners, and grabbed the throat of the man who had just quietly opened the cell door. With a single, powerful motion, she yanked him inside the cell and flung him over her head, slamming the poor man's body onto the ground, drawing a pained yelp from him that ensured that anyone who hadn't awoken from the sound of the creaking metal was now fully awake and watching the situation unfold.

"Where. Is. _Eren._ " Mikasa's voice was deadly calm as she glared into the eyes of the man who wore the distinctive uniform of the Garrison Regiment. Even as everyone around her started talking, she tuned them all out, only focusing on the enemy she had pinned beneath her.

"Mikasa, wait!" Armin cried out, his voice piercing her skull and drawing her attention. "Don't hurt him, he hasn't done anything!"

"He's a part of the Garrison," Mikasa said coldly. "They took Eren prisoner, and now stand directly in my path. If I need to, I won't hesitate to kill every last one of them."

"Wait!" The man croaked out desperately. "My name is Ian! Major Ian Dietrich! Rico sent me to free all of you!"

Mikasa's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't step away from him. "Rico sent you? Why?"

Ian hesitated for a moment, before swallowing a gulp and pushing onward. "Eren still hasn't woken up, but Captain Woermann is planning to execute him in a few hours, whether he's conscious or not."

Silence filled the small cell as the gravity of the situation rolled over Mikasa. She didn't react at first, seemingly frozen in place as her heart started pounding with wild abandon. Her hands began to shake, and everything seemed to fade into the background as time went backward, and she was once again a child, watching as her parents were killed right in front of her. She remembered how she had remained dead silent, while Katrina's horrified scream had pierced the air at the sight, only for her youthful voice to be silenced only hours later.

The still-vivid memory of Eren disappearing into the mouth of a Titan appeared in Mikasa's mind, and she couldn't suppress a shudder. She wouldn't let Eren be taken from her again.

She _couldn't_ let Eren be taken from her again.

Mikasa wrenched herself out of her memories and back to reality. "Where is Eren being held?"

"Huh?" Ian stammered, looking at her in confusion. "Weren't you listening to what I just said? He's being held in an underground chamber north of Trost. I can take all of you to him-"

"We're going. Now." Mikasa didn't wait for Ian to respond. She got to her feet and turned, facing everyone else with a hard expression in her eyes. "I'm going to go save Eren. This will be in direct defiance of Captain Woermann, and will thus be considered treason. If any of you don't wish to join me, I understand."

"You're kidding, right?" Reiner said incredulously. He glanced at Bertholdt beside him, who gave a small nod. Satisfied, Reiner folded his arms and stepped forward. "Eren's one of us. We're coming with you."

Mikasa stared at Reiner for several moments, before her gaze softened, and appreciation crossed her face. "Thank you," she said quietly, before glancing at everyone else. While some, like Ymir and Jean, didn't look too excited about it, all ten of her comrades stepped forward and gave the signature salute of the Eldian military. Mikasa nodded to them all, and spun on her heels, stalking out of the cell with everyone in tow.

 _I_ will _save Eren._

* * *

Eren opened his eyes, and immediately, his mind was assaulted by a sudden influx of sight, smell, and sound. Mixed together in a potent concoction, his head pounded behind his eyes in a rhythmic, painful pattern, every beat a colossal blow that further crippled him. Disoriented and confused, he tried to focus, only to become lost in a barrage of memories.

_I'm….I'm dead….but now I'm not._

_I'm alive again._

_I'm standing over Trost, gazing across it like a hawk surveying its kingdom._

_There are Titans everywhere._

_I hate Titans._

_I'll kill them all. Every last one, and-_

_Wait._

If Eren had been standing, he would have collapsed to the ground as his world spun.

_This already happened._

_I….I wasn't human anymore. I had a tail, and claws on my hands. When I opened my mouth to scream, a monstrous roar was what I heard instead._

_I thought I saw….what was her name again? Even from a distance, I could make out every detail, down to the aging threads on her red scarf._

_A red scarf. I once had a red scarf. When I was a kid. When Katrina was alive. What happened to that scarf? Did I get rid of it? No, I don't think so. Wait. I gave it to…._

_Mikasa._

_Mikasa Ackermann. That's her name. Her parents were killed by the same bastards who killed Katrina. I hated her for so long. A part of me still does. I want to hate her with every fiber of my being, but when I see her, I see someone who exudes an inner strength that I envy, that I admire, that I respect. She was about to be eaten by a Titan, and without thinking, I pushed her out of the way. I was eaten instead…._

_So how am I not dead?_

"Eren Jaeger. I'll ask one final time. Can you hear me?" Breaking through the dark fog that Eren had been wandering through, the harshly spoken words brutally yanked him back to reality. Tumbling down through the endless caverns of his mind, he landed in a heap at the bottom, where light began to focus, and….

"Heeeeeeeeeeee…." Eren's mouth could only make a single, guttural sound that was more akin to the call of a wounded animal than a person's voice. He tried to move his tongue, his lips, anything, but nothing was working. As his vision came into focus, he took in his surroundings with a confused, lopsided stare.

Constricted by chains in a kneeling position, Eren's arms were secured behind a wooden pole, with his head resting awkwardly against it. He was in the center of a large, stone chamber, with dim, nocturnal light streaming down from above through a single ceiling trapdoor on the opposite side of the room, with a wooden ladder leading up to it the only clear way in or out. Facing Eren, with rifles aimed squarely at his face, were about twenty Garrison Regiment soldiers, with Captain Woermann standing in front, glaring at Eren with barely concealed….

_Fear? They all look….so frightened. They're frightened of me. Is it because…._

_Wait. What's going on here?_

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh…." Eren tried to speak again, but his body was refusing to cooperate. If the chains keeping him upright were to suddenly disappear, he would've collapsed to the ground in a helpless heap.

"Sir, I don't think he has the ability to speak right now."

Eren's eyes widened slightly at the sound of the familiar voice. It came from behind him, so he couldn't see the speaker, but he recognized it as Rico's voice immediately.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiii…." Eren desperately tried to cry out, but all that came out was an unintelligible mumble.

"See?" Rico said as she stepped out from behind Eren, coming into his view. He was able to get a look at her, and he realized that she looked as tired as he felt. "This is what happens when you inject someone we know nothing about with drugs designed to wake up a normal human. If what my Squad says is true, then Eren came out of the back of Godzilla's neck, and if he was in any way in control of it during its rampage, then surely it took a mighty toll on his physical body."

_Godzilla? Is that….is that what I was? That giant, reptilian monster, who, for what felt like an eternity, I was not only inside of, but actually was? I was this….Godzilla? How did that even happen? I was eaten by a Titan, but I somehow survived and became a giant monster? I'm so confused…._

"That's irrelevant right now," Woermann growled out. "He's dangerous. If he tries anything, I won't hesitate to give the order to shoot him now, instead of after his interrogation. Step away from him, and let us get on with it."

Rico let out an exhausted sigh as she turned to Eren, holding up her hands in a helpless gesture. "I'm sorry, Eren," she said with a hint of regret in her voice. "There's nothing more I can do." But when Eren's gaze flicked across her face, her expression told a different story. She mouthed out words silently, and Eren could almost swear she was telling him that 'help is coming'.

_Fine. I can hold out. For now._

As Rico stepped away from Eren, joining her fellow Garrison soldiers, someone else stepped forward, holding a pair of metal pliers. As the soldier advanced towards Eren with a sadistic look in his eyes, Woermann cracked his knuckles and cleared his throat.

"So. Tell us, Eren Jaeger. Would you prefer we start with your hands, or your feet?"

* * *

Just as the sky was beginning to turn a slightly lighter shade of blue, signaling the coming sunrise, the survivors of Crimson Squad, led by Major Ian Dietrich, arrived at the compound where Eren was being held. Surrounded by a ten-meter high wall, the compound was situated between several large hills, tucked away from the main roads so that random civilians would have a smaller chance of stumbling upon it.

"There it is," Ian quietly said to Mikasa, Jean, and Reiner, who were situated at the front of the group with him. Everyone was crouched down, and equipped with a fresh set of ODM gear, stolen from the unguarded reserves of Trost. "Everyone's still scrambling to figure out what the hell is going on," Ian explained. "I'd wager that most of the soldiers down there don't even know that Eren's being held here. Captain Woermann did his best to keep everyone quiet who saw when you all turned yourselves in, and due to his extreme punishments, I doubt many people have been leaking that information. Most of them probably have no clue what's going on. What I'm trying to say is, when you get in there, please avoid killing anyone unless you absolutely have to."

"You're not coming with us?" Jean said as he folded his arms. "So we're gonna have to break in there on our own?"

Ian rolled his eyes. "You really thought I'd openly help you guys? I'm risking everything as it is, sneaking you guys out of jail and leading you to this place. If Captain Woermann finds out I helped you, he'll have my head, and I do mean literally."

"That's understandable," Reiner said with a nod. "We're just grateful that you and Rico are helping us at all. Eren's a hot-headed idiot, but he's our friend, and I'll be damned if we let him get executed. Even if he is a Titan."

Ian shook his head as a wry expression crossed his face. "I don't envy you guys, you know. I can't believe all of you are doing all this for one person."

"He'd do the same for us," Marco remarked, drawing a confused look from Jean. Marco shrugged his shoulders and turned to his friend, a knowing look in his eyes. "You may hate Eren, but I think even he would try to help you if you were in his place. He's a stubborn ass, but he's loyal to those who fight alongside him. We're a team, all twelve of us, and we work best as a unit. We lost six of our own yesterday, and I don't want to lose another."

Armin nodded solemnly before turning to Ian and gesturing out to the compound. "Where specifically is Eren being held again?"

"Right in the center," Ian said as he pointed to a circle of soldiers standing around a trapdoor set in the ground. "Eren's down there, with a ton of soldiers aiming guns right in his face. I don't know how you all plan to do this, but I wish you good luck."

Staring thoughtfully down at the compound, an idea came to Armin, and he couldn't suppress a grin. Turning to Mikasa, he pulled out a flare gun he had grabbed in the Garrison storehouse.

"I have a plan."

* * *

Eren let out another weakened scream as the pliers ripped out the last of his fingernails, the excruciating pain filling his eyes with tears as he sagged in his chains, blood dripping off his hands and splattering on the ground below. He had thought that he would be able to stand up to the interrogation fairly well, and maintain some level of dignity.

He had thought wrong.

"I….I saaaaaaaiiiiiid….." Eren's voice was weak and broken, but he was desperately trying to get Woermann to call off the torture at any cost, even if it meant damaging his vocal cords. His body ached all over, and he felt like he was about to pass out. "I….dooooooooooon't knoooooooooooooow annnnnnyyyyyyyythiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing."

"More lies!" Woermann yelled. "By the time we're done with your toenails, if you still haven't started giving us specifics, then we'll finish up with a bullet to your skull right here, right now!"

Eren didn't think that was such a terrible idea.

Woermann rolled his eyes and motioned for the torture to continue. "Start with the foot on his magically healed leg. Maybe he'll tell us how that happened."

_I don't know how it healed. I don't know how I transformed into Godzilla. All I know is that right now, everything hurts. I'm tired, I'm sore, my hands are killing me, and I have no clue what I did to deserve this._

Just as the torturer was bending down to start on Eren's feet, the familiar sound of a flare gun being fired reached the underground chamber. Moments later, a soldier stuck his head down through the trapdoor on the ceiling, panic evident in his eyes.

"Captain, incoming Titans from the south!"

* * *

As the soldiers inside the compound scrambled to flee, Armin held his breath as he ducked behind one of the buildings, joined by Mikasa, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie.

"Well, it looks like Christa and Ymir's distraction worked," Reiner quietly whispered to Armin. "Good call, having them be the ones to double back and fire that flare gun, what with Ymir's broken arm and all."

Armin nodded as he waited for the next phase of his plan to commence. Assuming, of course, that Jean's team had succeeded….

When the sound of an explosion on the north side of the compound washed over him, he shook his head with a grin as more soldiers beelined for the destruction. "Sasha and Conny probably had fun with that."

Mikasa drew her swords, and aimed them for the now clear path to the trapdoor. "Bertholdt, you have that smoke bomb ready?"

Bertholdt nodded while Annie and Reiner both pulled out their swords. Mikasa glanced back at Armin, who couldn't stop a well of nervousness from suddenly sweeping over him as their part of the plan drew near. Bertholdt would throw the smoke bomb down into the prison chamber, while Annie and Mikasa would dive in and cover Reiner and Armin, who would free Eren and get him safely back up to the surface. They were all wearing masks, and Armin was counting on the Garrison soldiers not firing randomly into the smoke for fear of hitting one of their own. They were taking a risk, but for his friend, it was worth it.

"Mikasa, I think we're ready," he said with a determined glint in his eyes.

The five of them burst out from their hiding place and went directly for the trapdoor. Swords drawn and resolve hard as steel, they would free Eren, or die trying.

Bertholdt chucked the smoke bomb down into the chamber, followed swiftly by Mikasa and Annie, who both jumped down with zero hesitation. By the time Armin and Reiner had descended into Eren's prison, smoke was already starting to fill the air, and the Garrison soldiers were in a state of panic.

"Don't shoot, damn it!" Woermann yelled desperately as the visibility was reduced to only a few feet. "If you shoot me, I'll kill you!"

Armin smirked as his hunch turned out to be correct, only for his face to morph into one of horror as he and Reiner landed next to Eren's battered body. "Eren!" Armin yelped as he grabbed the chains constricting his friend's body, helplessly turning to Reiner, who looked dismayed at the realization that freeing Eren was going to be a lot harder than they had hoped.

"Shit," Reiner cursed, slamming his fist into the wooden pole Eren was chained to in the hope of breaking it, but the solid wood held firm. Reiner yanked back his hand and clutched at his fist, grimacing in pain as he turned to Armin with a worried expression, the smoke already beginning to clear. Making a split-second decision, Reiner turned and ran into the haze, leaving Armin alone with Eren.

Seconds later, visibility returned to the room, revealing a precarious position for everyone involved.

Reiner had Woermann is his grasp, a sword held to the Captain's throat, while Annie was crouched only a few feet away from Eren and Armin, the rifles she had just ripped out of the hands of the first row of soldiers still clattering to the ground. Clinging to the wall on the opposite side of the room, Mikasa had a look of frustration on her face as it became clear that she and Annie had not successfully disarmed everyone in the room. With five soldiers still aiming guns directly at Eren, and the rest quickly kneeling to the ground with their hands over the heads, a deadly standoff commenced.

"Captain Woermann is my prisoner!" Reiner shouted with a furious look in his eyes as he glared at the still-standing soldiers. "If any of you shoots Eren, I'll kill Woermann right here, right now! Drop your weapons!"

Silence filled the chamber, and after several moments, the remaining five soldiers reluctantly let their guns fall to the ground. Armin let out a sigh of relief as Mikasa slid to the base of the wall and ran past the soldiers, dropping to her knees beside him and Eren. Her angry expression immediately dissipated, being replaced with one of concern.

"Alright," Reiner said as he turned to allow himself to face Woermann directly, keeping his sword pressed against Woermann's neck. "Is there a key to unlock Eren's restraints, Captain?"

Woermann looked like he was about to explode in a fiery ball of anger, but he simply nodded his head instead. "It's in my pocket right here," he muttered through gritted teeth.

With a little bit of maneuvering, Reiner was able to pull the key out of Woermann's pocket without sacrificing his position, and he tossed the key over to Armin. He caught it and quickly got to work freeing Eren, trying his best to ignore the obvious signs of torture that showed on Eren's fingers.

"Bertholdt!" Reiner yelled out. "Everything alright up there?"

From the surface, Bertholdt's muffled voice called down to them. "For now, but I think they've just figured out that both the explosion and flare were distractions. I'd hurry up down there!"

Armin's finger fumbled with the key, and it dropped to the ground at his feet, only for Annie to pick it up and stuff it into the keyhole herself. "I've got him," she muttered. As Eren's chains fell to the ground around him, Annie caught him with surprising strength, and despite being dwarfed by him, she easily slung him over her shoulder.

Getting to their feet, Armin and Mikasa examined Eren's face, and he blinked blearily at them.

"Heeeeeeeeeeee…." Eren managed to get out, recognizing his two closest friends. Mikasa allowed a small smile to cross her face, and she reached out a hand to touch his cheek. For just a moment, Armin thought, maybe everything would be alright.

It happened so fast, that when Annie spun in a circle and slammed her foot into Mikasa's head, Armin didn't realize it had happened until Mikasa was already sprawled on the ground, clutching her head in pain.

"Annie!" Reiner suddenly shouted, panic and confusion laced through his words. "What are you doing?!"

"Annie?" Armin said hesitantly, hoping, praying that this wasn't happening. Annie stared at him for several seconds, looking like she wanted to say something, before turning and kicking Mikasa square in the face, just as she was starting to get up. With a pained cry, Mikasa went down again.

"I'm sorry, Armin," Annie said, and she sounded so broken, so regretful, that for a second, Armin believed her. What she said next shattered his heart into pieces.

"I am Scylla. I attacked Wall Maria six years ago. I'm taking Eren now, and I won't stop for anyone."

At the sound of Annie's words, Armin's pent-up feelings of affection that had been quietly building for her gave way to the stinging, bitter taste of betrayal. He could scarcely believe it, but when he saw the regretful look in her eyes, he realized that he wasn't dreaming. This wasn't even a nightmare.

This was worse than a nightmare. He thought he had been growing closer to her. He thought he had been beginning to understand her.

Without even realizing it, he had been slowly growing to love her.

While Armin stood frozen in shock, Reiner let out a pained yell and threw Woermann to the side, shooting towards Annie with wild desperation in his eyes. At the same moment, Mikasa sprang from her place on the ground, furious vengeance emanating from her very being as she aimed her swords directly for Annie's head.

 _I am Scylla. I attacked Wall Maria six years ago. I'm taking Eren now, and I won't stop for anyone._ As Annie's words reverberated in Armin's head, he could only look on in horror, tears starting to pool in his eyes as she raised her free hand to her mouth, and said one final thing that would haunt him forever.

"Not even for you."

Annie bit down on her hand, and with an earth-shattering blast, everything changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in uncharted territory now. While those familiar with Attack on Titan will have no doubt seen this coming (along with some more reveals down the line), the way I went about executing Annie's betrayal is very different than how it was portrayed in the anime/manga. I hope you all enjoyed it, especially with how I incorporated Annie/Armin, which I've always had a particular soft spot for.
> 
> Any comments are appreciated!
> 
> -AlphaBeta17 (9/17/20)


	11. Scylla

**Four Weeks Ago**

When Annie’s next kick connected, she couldn’t suppress a smirk, watching smugly as Eren collapsed to his knees with a groan.

“You know, just because you  _ can _ kick me in the balls doesn’t mean you should,” Eren said through gritted teeth. “You’re fighting dirty. It’s not really fair, is it?”

Annie raised her eyebrows as she stared down at Eren, hoping that he wasn’t being serious.

_ This moron. I still don’t understand why Armin and Mikasa are always hanging around him. There’s absolutely nothing special or unique about him. He’s just an angry little boy who lost his mommy. Give me a break. _

“Remember, Eren,” Annie said with a sarcastic tone as she held up her hands defensively. “I’m just a girl, after all. I’m smaller than you, and I’m much weaker than you too. I’m just defending myself from the big strong man who was trying to pick a fight with me, especially after I already told you to leave me alone.”

Eren looked indignant as he got to his feet, wincing in pain. “Hey, we’re all just standing around waiting for our graduation rankings, so I figured I’d see if you changed your mind about wanting to teach me anything.”

Annie shrugged her shoulders. “You figured out my answer yet? I think I made myself clear.”

Eren shook his head ruefully. “Forget it. I should’ve remembered. Moody Annie doesn’t care about anyone or anything.”

Annie smirked. “Damn right.”

Internally though, Eren’s comment did cause Annie to pause and think.

_ If he knew what I was really here to do, what my true mission is, he wouldn’t see me as a stuck up ally. He’d see me as a cold-hearted enemy who has to be destroyed. I wouldn’t blame him for thinking so. My mission isn’t to form bonds or sow peace with these people. I’ve been chosen to be a part of something far larger than myself. It’s my life now, and to put anything else before it would be- _

“Eren, are you bothering Annie again?” 

Annie turned at the sound of Armin’s voice, and though it didn’t show, she softened at the sight of the odd boy as he walked over to the two of them with amusement in his eyes.

“No,” Eren said defensively, shooting Annie a murderous look. “I was just trying to spar with her again, and then she kicked me! Hard!”

“Didn’t Annie tell you to leave her alone?”

“Yeah, yeah, I just thought that maybe-”

Armin shook his head in exasperation. “Eren, you’ve gotta use your head sometimes. Remember what people say, and you might avoid ending up in situations like this.”

Eren stared at Armin with mock betrayal as he shook his head. “Come on, why you gotta take her side? You’ve known me for practically our entire lives!”

“And that’s why I know better than anyone that you have a tendency to pick fights when you shouldn’t,” Armin said knowingly. “You can’t win every battle. Fighting head-on won’t always work, especially if your opponent is much stronger than you are. You have to use your brain, and think deceptively.”

Eren glanced at Annie and rolled his eyes, gesturing towards Armin with an annoyed wave of his hand. “See, Annie? My best friend. Always has my back.”

Annie didn’t respond while Armin shot another snarky comment back at Eren. She turned to leave, only to find a certain girl wearing a red scarf coming towards her with a dark look in her eyes.

_ Oh, come on. Not her. _

“You’re pretty good at fighting,” Mikasa said casually, a smile crossing her face which didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Why don’t you try fighting me instead? I’m curious to see what you’re made of.”

Annie stared at her with a bored expression, trying to convey indifference, but internally, she knew that this wasn’t going to be easy. She’d intentionally avoided getting into any confrontations with Mikasa, but it didn’t look like she’d be able to get out of this one. Subconsciously, she shifted her stance into a defensive position.

_ Shit. Mikasa’s practically a beast, equal in strength and ferocity to a Titan. She’s both larger and stronger than me. I’ll have to be careful. _

“Well, I suppose it would be useful to find out if my technique works on animals,” Annie said coldly as she raised her fists. “Your move.”

As if they had been lying in wait, the other cadets all gathered around, the long-awaited showdown between the two strongest women in the 104th finally about to take place.

“You know, you guys don’t have to fight,” Armin said nervously.

“You kidding?!” Sasha squealed. “We  _ need _ this! Mikasa vs. Annie. Oh, I wish I had some popped corn!”

“Yeah, we’ve been waiting to see this forever,” Thomas said excitedly. “My money’s on Annie. She’s ruthless, and won’t hesitate to strike first.”

“What?!” Jean yelled out. “You’re crazy. Mikasa’s got this in the bag!”

“Well, Annie has speed on her side,” Mina reasoned. “Have you guys seen her run before? It’s insane!”

“Well, who does Armin think will win?” Reiner suddenly said. Everyone glanced at him, and then over at Armin, who balked at the sudden attention.

“You think Annie will win, right?” Bertholdt remarked as he folded his arms, staring down at the shorter boy.

“Psh, talk about overrated!” Ymir said with a barking laugh as she leaned her arm on Christa’s head. “Look at the size difference! She’s the smallest one of us besides Christa here!”

“Hey!”

“Well, uh….” Armin looked back and forth between Annie and Mikasa, indecision written on his face. “I guess Mikasa, given her abnormally high strength. Not that you’re not strong or skilled, Annie, but Mikasa’s pretty much guaranteed the first place graduate ranking after all.”

Annie didn’t move, but her eyes narrowed slightly as she prepared to strike.

_ So he thinks Mikasa can beat me. Well, I guess I’ll have to prove him wrong. _

“Let’s see if you’re as strong as everyone thinks you are, Mikasa,” Annie growled out as she sprung forward with a roundhouse kick, ready to engage the only person in the 104th who she considered to be a true threat.

* * *

**Present Day**

With a concussive explosion, a towering monster materialized out of thin air around Annie, destroying the underground chamber with its sheer size and sending rocks tumbling through the air as dirt and dust billowed around its gigantic form. It had six long, spider-like legs, a small shelled body reminiscent of a squid, with a small head protruding downwards, and writhing tentacles hanging from around its mouth. It looked like a beast straight out of a fairy tale told to frighten children, and when it let out a terrifying, screeching roar, it could’ve been mistaken for a monster escaped from Hell.

To Mikasa, none of that mattered. It didn’t matter that she had been slammed back into the wall, and was now covered in burns and bruises. It didn’t matter that most of the people within the underground chamber had been crushed by falling rocks. It didn’t matter that Reiner was having a panic attack, lying on the ground and hyperventilating. It didn’t matter that Bertholdt was seemingly frozen in place, unable to move in utter shock. It didn’t matter that Armin had curled into a ball on the ground and was weeping.

All that mattered was that within the mass of the monster Scylla was an intelligent, malicious person in control of unimaginable power, and that Eren, the most important person in her life, was in there with her. Mikasa was barely thinking as she engaged her ODM gear and flew up into the air, not even stopping to check on her three comrades. She was operating only on animal instinct now, and would stop at nothing to save her friend.

_ Annie Leonhart. You will give Eren back to me. _

Spinning up and over Scylla’s head, she drew her swords, and-

With a blood-curdling screech, Scylla jerked its head down, causing Mikasa to completely miss her mark and overshoot entirely. Letting out a frustrated grunt, she quickly retracted her gear and refired it, barely managing to catch herself before she hit the ground. Using her momentum, she continued to spin around Scylla’s head, trying to find an opening to strike.

_ I know you’re in there. Hiding, like the coward you are. _

Scylla’s eyes tracked Mikasa’s every move with caution, watching the girl as she flew around and around, managing to avoid being yanked out of the air despite Scylla’s sudden, jerky motions. It would only take a particularly well-timed movement, and Mikasa would be sent tumbling to the ground far below.

Mikasa knew this all too well. But she didn’t care.

_ Give him back to me NOW! _

As Mikasa let out a warrior’s cry and suddenly changed course in midair, aiming directly for Scylla’s eyes, the monster surged forward with powerful strides of its long, slender legs. Mikasa collided with the monster and bounced right off its face, sending her plummeting to the ground in a dazed freefall as Scylla began to move away, quickly leaving the now-destroyed compound behind.

Just before she collided with the ground, Mikasa was able to fire her ODM gear and slow her descent enough so that instead of breaking every bone in her body, she merely landed in a rough, tumbling heap. Not stopping for an instant, she discarded her spent swords and equipped another pair, drawing them with such fury that sparks flickered down the blades.

_ Annie won’t hesitate, just like she didn’t in our fight that day. And this time, she’ll go for the kill. _

_ So will I. _

With a hiss of gas, Mikasa was flying through the air once again, swinging from tree to tree in a mad dash to keep up with the quickly retreating Scylla. Leaves and branches became a blur of green and brown as Mikasa flew at breakneck speeds, putting every ounce of skill and strength she had to the test as she began to gain on the giant monster.

_ She’s going for Wall Rose. If she gets through it, I won’t be able stop her. Not alone. _

With every thunderous crash of Scylla’s legs, trees and dirt were sent flying into the air, leaving a flurry of cascading debris that Mikasa had to weave back and forth through. Despite this, slowly, but surely, she caught up to the escaping Alpha Titan. Firing her ODM cables again and again, Mikasa was conscious of the fact that she was expending a lot of gas. Too much, in fact. Mikasa knew that she couldn’t keep up this pursuit for much longer, especially since they were nearing the edge of the forest. With a decisive spin in midair, Mikasa shot herself forward like a bullet, rising up into the air over the treeline and firing her cables at the peak of her arc.

Long lines trailing metal hooks sailed forward, barely snagging Scylla’s torso before they reached the end of their length, and with a giant jerk, Mikasa was yanked forward through the air. At the mercy of Scylla’s every move, Mikasa barely noticed when the trees beneath her gave way to grasslands, and how in the distance to the south, with the sun just barely peeking over it, lay Wall Rose, in all its glory. 

Triggering the mechanisms of her ODM gear, Mikasa was pulled forward towards Scylla, and with deadly precision, she flew under its massive body, swinging towards one of its legs and slashing with her swords. When her blades collided with the thick exoskeleton, they shattered on impact, the shock of the blow traveling up her arms and rattling her spine. Startled, she almost lost her grip on her sword handles, and lay dazed beneath Scylla for a brief moment, dangling precariously as six legs thundered around her.

_ I can’t break through its armor. But….Eren came out of the neck of Godzilla. Maybe that’s the weak spot of the Alpha Titans. _

After only a moment, she shook off her shock and swung up and over Scylla’s body, landing on its shelled back and racing down its sloping spine towards its dangling head. Coming to a stop right at the base of its neck, she fired her ODM gear into its flesh to prevent herself from sliding off and tumbling to the ground. Bracing herself against the rumbling movements of the uneven flesh beneath her feet, she re-equipped fresh blades and prepared to strike.

_ Don’t worry, Eren. I’ll save you from this traitor. _

With a carefully strong slice, Mikasa cut through Scylla’s exposed flesh and revealed Annie’s lithe form, connected by tendrils of flesh to the monster surrounding her. Encased at her feet was Eren, who- besides his face- was completely wrapped in tendrils of muscle. For a split second, his eyes opened halfway and connected with Mikasa’s gaze, squinting against the sudden burst of light.

_ Eren…. _

Annie suddenly turned, her eyes blazing with fury and fear. With a loud yell, she tore free from her meaty prison and grabbed Mikasa, tumbling out onto the sloping head of the now-dormant Scylla. Mikasa’s swords were knocked out of her hands, and she began to grapple with Annie, whose flesh was parted and steaming where she had been connected to her monstrous body.

“Go away!” Annie’s voice was deep and strained, and as Mikasa gripped the soggy fabric of Annie’s signature hooded sweatshirt, she glared into her adversary’s eyes and snarled her response.

“Give Eren back to me, you bitch!”

The ground beneath Annie and Mikasa suddenly collapsed as Scylla’s giant form began to disintegrate, columns of steam erupting around the two and enveloping them in the rancid smell of raw flesh. Hit with a blast of heat, unable to see a thing, Mikasa’s whole world suddenly became her and her opponent, in a fight to the death. Tumbling roughly through the air together, they didn’t release each other even as they collided with pieces of the quickly dissipating body of Scylla. Their descent was rough, and within moments, the two landed on the ground together. Bruised, but alive, they didn’t stop for an instant as they continued to match each other’s every move, punches and kicks swinging just like they had in their previous fight.

Annie was more flexible than Mikasa, but her smaller size and slightly lower strength meant that before long, Mikasa had Annie on the ground, gripped in a headlock. Struggling and flexing with everything she had, against any other opponent, Annie would have been able to snap their limbs and win the battle with relative ease, but against the overwhelming brawn Mikasa possessed, she was no match. With her legs and arms locked in place, sticking out at awkward angles, she was trapped.

“Let me go, I can explain,” Annie managed to grunt out in a desperate attempt to calm Mikasa’s fury.

At the sound of Annie’s words, Mikasa’s rage only grew. Red began to tinge the corners of her vision, and she began to tighten her grip around Annie. In the moment however, she didn’t notice as Annie glanced at Eren’s unconscious body lying a few feet away from them, and shifted her right hand into the air, straining against Mikasa’s grasp.

“I’ll kill you,” Mikasa seethed in absolute anger, her feelings for Eren overtaking her and narrowing her focus to destroying those who wished to harm him at all costs. “I won’t let you take him from me.”

By the time the morning sunshine glinted off the metal ring on Annie’s right hand and caught Mikasa’s eye, it was too late. Annie gave her hand a slight flick, and a small blade popped out of the ring. With desperate urgency, Annie sliced herself, and-

The world became nothing but a flash of light.

* * *

Laying in the destroyed ruins of Eren’s former prison and torture chamber, Armin’s sobs had finally died down, leaving the boy in a state of emptiness, his soul shattered from the betrayal. He was curled up in a ball, covered in dirt and soot from the explosion created by Annie’s transformation. With his eyes squeezed shut, the world around him was nonexistent.

Even as the voices of his comrades surrounded him, and he was picked up and carried out of the ruins of the compound, he barely noticed. As his body was carefully laid on the ground, his mind was miles away, lost in the recesses of his psyche.

_ I should have known. I should have seen it coming. I shouldn’t have let myself get so distracted.  _

_ Annie. A traitor.  _

_ How could you? How  _ could _ you? You’re Scylla? You broke through Wall Maria six years ago? You helped bring about the deaths of so many innocent lives, including my grandfather? _

_ How could you betray everyone? How could you betray humanity? _

_ How could you betray me?  _

_ I thought….I thought that maybe, just maybe, you cared. You drove everyone else away almost immediately with your hostility, but not me. I looked past your stinging coldness, and glimpsed someone strong and beautiful.  _

_ Damn it all. I never even noticed. I never suspected a thing. I was so naive and hopeful, I didn’t consider that someone close to me could be a traitor. I turned out to be useless after all.  _

A flash of Annie’s scowl appeared in Armin’s mind, and he almost broke down again. Everything that had transpired between them, every word, every moment….had it all been a lie?

_ Wait. _

Armin felt his breath catch, and his eyelids fluttered.

_ No. _

Flashes of Annie’s words came to Armin, playing in his mind like they had just been spoken moments before.

_ ‘Armin, why are you even talking to me? Everyone else knows to stay away from me, yet as soon as I come in here, you greet me like you would anyone else.’ _

_ ‘You're the only half-tolerable person I know.’ _

_ ‘I never made any effort to be your friend, yet you're the closest thing I have to one.’ _

Armin didn’t believe that those words had been lies. He  _ couldn’t _ believe it.

_ C’mon, Armin. Think. Use your head. It’s the only part of you that’s worth anything. Why would Annie do this? When she attacked Mikasa, she seemed so….broken. Like it was killing her to do it, but she felt she had no choice. _

_ But there’s  _ always _ a choice. I just have to help her see that. If I can convince her to stop, if I can just talk to her…. _

_ Yes. I can do this. _

Armin’s eyes opened, and he slowly sat upright, blinking as his mind began to process his surroundings. Above him, the branches of a large tree swayed in the wind, early morning sunlight filtering through the leaves and creating a deceptively peaceful feeling. Lying on the ground next to him was a similarly stunned Reiner and Bertholdt, both covered in a thick layer of soot. Gathered around them were Jean, Marco, Conny, Sasha, Ymir, and Christa, who all looked incredibly confused. 

“Armin? Can you hear me?” Marco’s concerned voice was distant, but Armin managed to nod his head slowly.

“What happened here?” Jean sounded uncharacteristically worried, and for once, he didn’t have any cynical remarks to make. “Where’s Annie and Mikasa? Did you guys save Eren?”

Armin took a deep breath, bracing himself for what was about to come, and slowly got to his feet, gratefully accepting Conny and Sasha’s help.

“Whoa dude, take it slow,” Conny said in surprise.

“Yeah, you look like shit,” Sasha remarked with a halfhearted smile.

Armin shook his head as he put one foot in front of the other. “I can’t stop. I need to follow them.”

“Wait, what? Follow who?!” Ymir’s voice was frantic, like she already knew that something terrible had happened. “What are you going on about? Tell us what happened!” 

“Armin, please, we need to know.” For once, Christa didn’t sound like she was trying to sound sweet. Instead, her tone was deadly serious, and when Armin glanced at her, for a moment, it was like he was staring at a different person. 

“I’m going after Annie,” Armin said as he shrugged out of his friends’ grasps and readied his ODM gear. “If anyone can convince her to stop, I can.”

* * *

Annie stared down at Mikasa’s battered, unmoving form, safe within Scylla’s massive body once again. The ground where she had transformed was scorched from the heat of the blast, and she shifted her six long legs carefully as she took a moment to catch her breath.

_ That was too close. Way too close.  _

Even from Annie’s vantage point high above, she could still see Mikasa clearly. While she had been covered in soot already, the black dust was now mixed with red streaks of blood. When she began to move, it was with unsteady, shaky movements, her breath coming in short and ragged gasps. When she tried to stand, it was immediately apparent that the blast had stunned her. After supporting herself for several seconds, she collapsed to the ground in a tired heap as her legs gave way.

Annie watched as Mikasa let out a pained scream of frustration, and couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity.

_ I’m sorry, Mikasa. I know taking Eren will kill you. But I’m a survivor. If I don’t bring Eren back with me, then I’ll be killed, and every one of you with me. _

As Scylla turned to leave, a small, distant voice rang out from the direction of the forest to the north, where Scylla had just come from. Turning around slowly, rotating six massive legs, Scylla watched as a gold-haired boy came running up to Mikasa and slid to a stop.

_ No. Not him. _

Armin looked up at Scylla, Mikasa’s battered body clutched in his arms. Annie felt something inside of her break at the expression on his face, and started to turn away.

“ANNIE! WAIT!”

Scylla stopped as Annie closed her eyes and grimaced. Even though she wasn’t facing Armin directly, it was like she was there on the ground next to him, being forced to confront head-on what she had just done. She wanted to keep moving, to retreat over Wall Rose, and then Wall Maria, and escape back to her homeland, where she would be welcomed as a hero and praised for her bravery and loyalty.

But something kept her rooted to the spot. A part of her that knew she had already betrayed Armin enough, and that the least she could offer him was to listen to what he had to say. Before she never saw him again.

With a warbling groan, Scylla knelt down, folding its massive legs and setting its shell-like torso on the ground. Even its head was several meters tall, so when she emerged, still connected to Scylla by long strands of flesh, and steam broiling around her, she looked down at Armin and Mikasa from above, her expression as unreadable as she could manage.

“Make it quick,” she said dispassionately.

Armin took one last look at Mikasa and stood up, walking forward and stopping in front of the long squid-like tentacles that were splayed out on the ground in front of Scylla’s head. He crouched down and hesitantly reached out, gingerly placing his hand on one of them. 

Annie flinched at the contact. Armin had no way of knowing just how unusual his willingness to touch her monstrous form was.

“Annie,” he called out, staring up at her with wide, red eyes. “You don’t have to do this. Come down, we can talk about this.”

“There’s nothing to discuss,” Annie responded as she flicked her eyes up to make sure nobody else was coming.

_ Armin came alone. Why would he do that? _

“Annie, you still have a choice!” Armin cried out. “Please, don’t take Eren! He’s my friend!”

Annie’s gaze hardened at the mention of the brazen holder of one of the Nine Titans. “Eren is now part of something far beyond you,” she said coldly. “He possesses stolen power, and it’s my job to return it to its rightful owner.”

“But why?!” Armin said, his voice cracking. “I don’t understand. Eren didn’t know he could transform into an Alpha Titan, I swear! I don’t know why you broke through Wall Maria six years ago, but if you come down, maybe we could talk, and-”

“I helped break through Wall Maria because I want humanity to fall,” Annie compulsively lied, repeating what she had been told for years as a child. “The people within the Walls are the spawn of devils, and must be eradicated.”

Armin looked like he was about to break down again, but he took a deep breath, and even from several meters away, Annie could see the determination in his eyes. The resolve.

The love.

_ Oh, god. This idiot…. _

“Even me?” Armin said pointedly. “You said I was the closest thing you had to a friend. Did you not mean that? Was everything you said to me a lie? Do you really want me to die?”

Annie hesitated before she answered, and even as the words passed her lips, she could tell Armin didn’t believe her. “I made it all up. I don’t feel anything towards you.”

Armin shook his head. “I don’t believe that. You saved me from one of the Titans, yesterday during the Trost attack. If you truly felt nothing for me, you would have let me die. Nobody else saw me get picked up by that Titan. You could have abandoned me, and no one would have known. You gained nothing from saving me, yet you did it anyway. Why?”

Annie looked away in shame.

_ Damn him. He’s too smart for his own good. _

“OK, you want me to be honest? Fine,” Annie snarled. “I was falling in love with you. But because I’m not foolish, I buried those feelings deep down, so that I could accomplish my mission in peace. But now here you are, dragging these feelings to the surface, and it’s only hurting us both.”

Armin looked like he had just been struck, and Annie couldn’t hide on her face that it was killing her to do this to him. She hated to admit it, but she had been developing feelings for him, despite knowing that she shouldn’t have. They were on opposite sides of a brewing conflict that could spill over into all-out war if she didn’t fulfill her mission. She should have hated him, and his stubbornly kind treatment towards her. He was a good person, who wanted to learn and help others. 

_ Not like me. I’m not a good person. He doesn’t deserve to have fallen for a monster. _

Annie let out a resigned sigh. She knew what she had to do.

_ I don’t have a choice. It’s for his own good. _

“Do yourself a favor, Armin. Hate me. Loathe me. Curse the day you met me, and pray for my painful death. I’m not a good person. I’ve killed many people, and I’ll surely kill many more.”

Armin finally cracked as tears began to stream down his cheeks. His sobs twisted and wormed their way into Annie’s heart, and she couldn’t bear it any longer. Climbing back into Scylla, the flesh resealed around her, and she once again was in control of a fifty-meter giant. Seeing with its eyes, and hearing with its ears, she stood up and began to move away to the south.

“Annie, wait!”

Scylla didn’t stop as it continued towards Wall Rose.

“ANNIE!”

Annie could feel tears trying to break free, and she fought to keep herself composed. Like all Titans, despite their massive size, they weighed relatively little, and with the help of her long, spider-like legs, she carefully climbed over Wall Rose. Her feet left indentations in the stone, but the wall remained standing. That was the least she could do after betraying her fellow soldiers.

_ I’m sorry. I know you won’t be able to forgive me. I know your friends definitely won’t be able to forgive me. But I don’t care that everyone else will hate me. The only thing I regret is that I hurt you.  _

_ Armin. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Mikasa is a rivalry that I’ve always enjoyed, as their perspectives on life are so vastly different. Mikasa is highly devoted to other people around her, and will fight tooth and nail to protect them. Annie, meanwhile, is a survivor, who will take any measure necessary to ensure that she comes out on top. Coupled with their similar levels of strength and cunning, they make good foils for each other, and I tried to emphasize that here.
> 
> Armin and Annie I feel somewhat similarly about, at least in regards to them being foils. Where Armin is optimistic, Annie is a pessimist. Armin looks out for others, as a result of losing his parents at a young age (and in the case of my story, losing his friend Katrina as well), whereas Annie is very much about looking out for herself, an understandable outlook given her upbringing, which while very different from the canon version (and will not be fully revealed until much later down the line), still resulted in the same familiar cold attitude that she’s known for.
> 
> Eren doesn’t have a lot of agency at this point in the story, something he’s obviously not going to be very happy about once he fully recovers, since Eren/Freedom is the OTP (jk), and in general, my portrayal and treatment of him is probably the part of my story where I’ve taken the most creative liberties. My goal is not to tell the same story that we’ve already seen, and part of that has been altering Eren himself considerably. Most notably, he lacks the skill with ODM gear he displayed in canon (as shown by him placing last in graduate rankings), as well as starting off much meaner than he originally was. Both of these were intended to show a different take on the character, though I believe he’s still very much the Eren he always was, with his raw anger and drive for freedom still being at the center of his character.
> 
> Any comments are greatly appreciated, I love hearing what people have to say about the story so far. Until next time!
> 
> -AlphaBeta17 (10/15/20)


	12. The Outside World

**Seven Years Ago**

"Again!"

Even over the loud, heavy rain, Annie could hear her father's command. Swiping quickly at her face, she pushed her soggy hair out of her eyes and let out a small, frustrated grunt as she lashed out at the punching bag once more, lifting up on one leg and driving her foot directly into it. Her muscles were burning from the exertion, but she knew from experience that refusing to continue would only lead to her father extending her exercises. Better to do them quickly and quietly, without complaint or hesitation. The only problem was that the rainstorm was making things much harder than usual. Soaked to the bone, she was already covered in mud from repeatedly slipping and falling, with each mistake earning her a stinging rebuke from her father, who was watching from nearby under an umbrella. His short, stocky figure was obscured through the sheets of rain, but Annie could still make out his scowl as it twitched in disapproval.

"You think you'll be accepted as one of the Titan Warriors with efforts like this?! Faster!"

Without hesitating, Annie spun and slammed her fist into the bag, following it up with a swift roundhouse kick. She didn't stop, repeatedly hammering the bag with a wide assortment of combat moves, all of which she was performing for her father for the thousandth time. She didn't dare say it out loud, but she was hoping that her father would take pity on her and allow her to take a break. Even if only for a couple of minutes.

_No. Keep going. Harder, and faster. Everything depends on excelling enough to be accepted as one of the next Warriors. If I let up, even for a moment, the opportunity could slip away from us._

BOOM!

At the sudden sound of a clap of thunder directly overhead, Annie couldn't stop herself from jolting in surprise. With one leg already in the air, her sudden movement led to her foot slipping out from under her, and she landed on the muddy ground in a heap. Immediately, she hurriedly tried to get back to her feet, but only ended up slipping again, this time landing face first in the mud. With her vision obscured, she began to panic, thrashing helplessly as the rain worsened.

The sounds of her father's footsteps drew near, and despite herself, Annie felt relief flood through her. Finally, he was going to help her, and-

"Useless!" Her father yelled hoarsely as he grabbed the back of Annie's head and shoved her face back into the mud, ignoring her muffled cries. "It's no wonder your family abandoned you if you can't even do this!"

Though Annie couldn't see her father's face, she had no trouble picturing his angry expression. The wild, desperate look in his eyes as his chances of a better life seemingly slipped farther away every time she failed to meet his expectations. Even as tears began to leak from behind her shut eyelids, he continued to shout at her as he shoved her deeper and deeper into the mud.

"You know how much I sacrificed for you?! I could've walked right by and let you die on the side of that road!"

Annie didn't even notice that she was running out of breath. She had heard this story before. Whenever her father lashed out at her, he seemed to always return to how she owed him everything, including her life. Especially her life.

"If I hadn't stopped to take a piss, nobody would have found you. Your cheeks were turning blue, but even as a baby you were silent! It's like you _wanted_ to be left behind to die!"

Her father roughly lifted her head out of the mud, gripping her hair tightly as he peered at her face, covered in mud and tears as she gasped for breath. His expression twisted in disgust at the sight, sending a pang of hurt through her heart.

"Well? You have anything to say?"

"Yes…." Annie managed to say after several deep breaths. "I'm sorry, Father."

He released his hold on her immediately and straightened back up, staring down at his daughter with disappointment in his eyes as she lay helplessly on the ground. He shook his head at the sight as Annie curled her arms around herself, wishing she were anywhere but there.

"Pathetic. You're not a survivor. How can you ever hope to become a Warrior if you can't even speak up for yourself?"

Annie began to cough as she slowly got to her feet, not meeting her father's eyes.

_What else do you want from me? I'm trying my best, but if that's not good enough for you…._

"How unfortunate," her father said tonelessly. "You've been quiet your whole life. Accepting everything with no fight at all. You train when I tell you to, but you aren't _really_ trying. You lack any sense of conviction or drive. I've tried to get you to act more like the other candidates, but you refuse to embrace the responsibility that has been laid before you."

Annie looked up just in time to see her father turn away. She felt more alone than ever at the sight of him standing perfectly dry, while she stood soaked and shivering as rain continued to pour out the sky.

"Father," Annie said softly. "I promise to train harder. I'll fight for this with everything I have. I _will_ earn the honor of becoming a Titan Warrior."

Her father stared back at her for several long seconds, while she waited anxiously for his response. Finally, he let out a resigned sigh.

"I've invested too much time into your upbringing to abandon you now. The selection for the next batch of Warriors is only another month away. If you succeed, and you inherit one of the Titans, then my efforts won't have been in vain."

Her father didn't say it out loud, but the unspoken threat echoed in her mind nonetheless.

_If I fail….then my life will be over._

Annie narrowed her eyes, and subconsciously straightened her posture. She glared directly at her father, a burning intensity growing within her.

_I have no choice. I'm going to become a Warrior. Then….you'll finally be proud of me._

* * *

**Present Day**

Eren stared down at the stumps on his wrists where his hands were supposed to be, not comprehending their absence. He had only just woken up several moments before, and he was already incredibly confused.

_What happened to me? Where's Mikasa? Where's Armin? I was being tortured, but they came to save me. Then…._

"Ah, good," a voice said coldly. "You're finally awake."

Eren turned to find Annie staring at him with a bored expression from a few feet away. They were sitting together on a wide branch connected to a monstrous tree that stretched far into the sky above. Peering over the edge of the branch, Eren's stomach turned at the sight of Titans far below, mindlessly staring up at him with vacant, hungry expressions.

"Don't worry," Annie said, her voice not very reassuring. "We're fifty meters off the ground. They can't reach us."

"Where are we?" Eren asked slowly. He held up one of his arm stumps, wincing as a phantom pain shot up into his shoulder. "Did you do this?"

"Yes," Annie responded matter-of-factly. Eren stared at her in shock as she shrugged her shoulders, like dismembering people was something she normally did. It was only then when he noticed just how exhausted she looked. Her hair was messy and matted, and her posture was slumped over, giving the impression that at any moment she might collapse.

"Annie," Eren said slowly. "What did you _do_?"

Annie stared at Eren, her gaze piercing right through him. "I captured you," she said heavily. "I transformed into Scylla, and took you over Wall Rose. I'm taking you back to my homeland, beyond Wall Maria."

"WHAT?!" Eren shouted as anger took hold immediately. "What the hell are you talking about?! You come from outside the Walls? That's impossible!"

Annie rolled her eyes as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, worn piece of paper, holding it up for Eren to see. He was about to scoff, until he got a closer look at it, the black and white image grabbing his attention immediately.

"What is that?" Eren said suspiciously. He wasn't certain, but it looked like a painting of Annie as a child, standing next to a stocky man with a scowl that he had seen on her face many times.

"It's a photograph," Annie said as she tucked it back into her pocket. "Where I come from, we have machines that use light to burn exact visual copies of whatever we want onto them. Just one of many technologies you people don't have here on Paradis Island."

Eren's heart stopped as Annie's words hit him in the face, nearly sending him sprawling. "Island," he mumbled under his breath. "You mean, we're surrounded by the sea? It's real?"

Annie froze momentarily, looking like an animal that had been caught in a hunter's trap, before settling back into her usual bored expression. "Yeah," she said bitterly. "Don't get too excited. The outside world isn't anything special."

Eren found himself at a loss for words as he held up one of his arms, staring at his stump that was beginning to emit steam as everything hit him at once.

_Armin was right. The sea exists. Shiganshina, Trost, the Walls, our entire world. Surrounded by an endless expanse of salty water. He was right. He was right all along._

"Why?" Eren suddenly asked.

"What?" Annie snapped. "Why what?"

"You say you come from outside the Walls, from beyond an ocean," Eren said slowly as he pieced together what she had said. "You also said that you transformed into Scylla, and that you intend to take me back with you. Does that mean that you attacked six years ago, broke through Wall Maria, destroyed the lives of thousands….all to find me?"

"It's more complicated than that," Annie snapped. "I didn't want to break through your stupid Wall, none of us did! But we didn't have a choice in the matter."

"But why?" Eren cried out. "Why would you do this? Why are you kidnapping me? What makes me so special?"

"Idiot," Annie hissed under her breath. "Have you already forgotten that you transformed into an Alpha Titan yesterday?"

"No, of course not, but-" Eren's eyes widened as he realized what she meant. "You're taking me because of this power."

"Finally," Annie groaned as she rubbed her forehead. "You're getting it."

"But, I didn't know about it until yesterday!" Eren protested weakly. "I still don't even know how I transformed!"

"Ha!" Annie let out a derisive cackle at the panicked look on Eren's face, sending a sudden surge of fear through his mind at the thought that at any moment, she could crush him, and he would be helpless to defend himself.

"What are you going to do with me?" Eren asked numbly. "You gonna brainwash me, and have me come back here and help you kill everyone left within the Walls? You hate all of us that much?"

"Don't be so dramatic," Annie retorted. "This isn't personal. If anything, you're saving everyone if you come with me quietly. But I doubt you will. That's why I cut off your hands. Your body's too busy regenerating to transform now."

Eren shook his head in disbelief. "I just don't understand why you would do all this. Or why you'd break through Wall Maria six years ago! Why do you want us all dead? What did we ever do to you?!"

Annie stared at Eren silently for several moments before responding with a low tone, and an almost regretful look.

"I don't want any of you dead. Not after living among you for six years. I can't say the same for everyone else that lives beyond the Walls."

* * *

"So, that's it? They're gone?"

Armin looked up to find Jean standing over him with his arms folded, and a scowl across his face. Behind him stood Marco, Conny, and Sasha, who were all staring at Armin with concern. He clenched his fists, and forced a deep breath.

"Yeah. They're gone."

Armin didn't register Jean's next words. The sun was at its zenith in the sky, and a soft breeze was blowing across the plain, coming from the south. From the direction that Annie, clad in the body of an Alpha Titan, had disappeared with Eren in her clutches. Armin turned to face Wall Rose in the distance, and not for the first time, he kicked himself mentally for not seeing the signs of Annie's betrayal.

_Looking back now, it was so obvious. That day she told me I was too caring for my own good, and that if I wasn't careful, I'd regret it…. I was foolish to brush it off. I trusted her, and now look at what's happened._

"Armin," Mikasa said softly beside him, where she was lying with an arm over her eyes. He turned to her, reaching out and grasping her hand, ignoring the sounds of the others arguing nearby.

"How are you doing?" Armin asked worriedly.

"I'm lucky to be alive," Mikasa said quietly. "She used a hidden blade on her ring to cut herself while we were grappling. Right after that, there was a massive explosion. Then when I woke up, she was gone, and now it hurts to move, and…." Mikasa's voice trailed off, and silence overtook the two of them.

_I don't know what to do now. Eren's gone, and there's no way to get him back._

"I'm sorry," Armin said softly. "This is all my fault. If I'd-"

"No," Mikasa said as she tried to sit up, grunting from the pain. Her expression was dark as she spoke. "It's mine. I didn't protect Eren like I was supposed to. Now, _she_ has him."

Armin winced at the level of hatred in Mikasa's voice. A part of him was uncomfortable with it, yet he couldn't blame Mikasa for how she felt.

"When you found me," Mikasa said quietly. "Had she already disappeared over Wall Rose?"

Armin squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to relive that painful conversation. His heart began to pound as Annie's words replayed in his head, taunting him for his failure.

' _Do yourself a favor, Armin. Hate me. Loathe me. Curse the day you met me, and pray for my painful death. I'm not a good person. I've killed many people, and I'll surely kill many more.'_

Armin swallowed hesitantly, before opening his mouth to speak. "I-"

"Hey guys!"

Armin looked up, and despite himself, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of Reiner, Bertholdt, Ymir, and Christa. They looked tired, but alright.

"What happened?" Reiner immediately asked as soon as they came to a stop. "Where's Annie and Eren?"

"Annie escaped over Wall Rose with Eren," Conny responded. "Mikasa tried to stop her, but, well…." Conny trailed off as everyone looked at Mikasa, who had clearly taken a beating.

"Well, what are we supposed to do now?" Bertholdt asked quietly. "Are we just going to let her get away with him?"

"No, of course not!" Reiner said with a half-hearted smile. "Anyone have any ideas?"

Armin glanced around at everyone, but they all seemed to have no suggestions. Ymir stepped forward hesitantly, before stepping back after Christa grabbed her wrist and shook her head. Sasha shrugged her shoulders helplessly, while Marco opened his mouth to speak, only to think better of it and deciding not to speak.

"Well, what about you, Armin?" Jean tried desperately. "We need a way out of this."

"I'm sorry, Jean," Armin said softly. He was trying to think, but Annie's betrayal was proving to be too much for him. "I have no ideas. No plans. I'm useless right now."

"Well, that's it then," Jean said as he threw his arms in the air. "We're through. Once word gets out about how we freed Eren from the Garrison, and that we immediately lost him to the enemy, we'll all be thrown in prison, and probably executed as well!"

"Well, that's one way to look at it," Marco said after a moment of silence. "Keep going, Jean."

"Huh?" Jean said as he looked at Marco in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're a cynic," Marco remarked. "If there's ever a time we need someone like you, it's now. So tell us, what do you think we could do to get out of this situation?"

"Me?" Jean said incredulously. "You're asking _me_ to come up with something? Why? I've tried to be a leader, but we're in a load of shit right now! How am I supposed to come up with something if even Armin can't?"

"Because you're _not_ a leader," Marco said patiently. Jean gaped at him in surprise, but Marco kept talking, not giving Jean time to respond. "You come from the perspective of someone always expecting the worst to happen. Well, the worst has happened. So think back on all your doubts, and how you've been proven right."

Everyone stared at Marco, shocked by his bluntness, while Armin's mind began to slowly turn again.

_Marco's right. We need to think back on everything that went wrong, and how we can use that information._

Jean let out a frustrated breath, and then he began to speak.

"Well, for one thing, going to rescue Eren was clearly a bad idea."

"With the benefit of hindsight, yes," Marco said with a nod. "Keep going."

"And we were dumb to hand Eren over to begin with," Jean continued as he began to pace.

"Also true," Marco said in agreement. "Anything else?"

Jean thought for another moment, before his eyes lit up with an idea. "We made a mistake in trusting Captain Woermann, but maybe there's someone else in the Garrison who can help us instead!"

Armin's eyes widened, and he couldn't stop himself from speaking up.

"I think I have another plan," he said hesitantly.

"Finally!" Jean said as he rolled his eyes. "What have you got?"

"Well," Armin began slowly, quickly picking up speed as the life returned to his eyes. "The longer we delay, the less chance we have of rescuing Eren. When he came out of Godzilla, he was exhausted, so it stands to reason that the process of controlling an Alpha Titan is a tiring ordeal. With that logic, Scylla can't have gotten far. Most likely, they stopped in one of those Giant Tree forests south of Trost to rest."

"Well, yeah," Jean agreed hesitantly. "But in order to travel far and fast enough to catch up to them, we'd need horses, and with Godzilla's corpse blocking the entrance to Trost, we'd need access to the Garrison in order to use their lifts to get horses over the Wall."

"But like you said, we're probably wanted by the Garrison now," Ymir reminded him. "How do we expect them to cooperate with us?"

"What about Rico?" Sasha said excitedly. "We found her in the rubble unconscious, but alive, and she sent Ian to free us from prison, so maybe she'd help us again!"

"Not a good option," Jean responded as he shook his head. "We're already in enough trouble as it is. Sneaking back into Trost anyway would be nearly impossible, with the entire Garrison probably looking for us now."

"Well, what options do we have?" Armin said as he began to look ahead to fighting Scylla, his mind turning through the possibilities like a gear on a clock. "We'll need horses and fresh ODM gear, that's for certain."

"Well," Jean said as he glanced at Marco, who gave him an encouraging nod. "We could appeal directly to the highest levels of the military."

"How about Commander Pyxis?" Christa suddenly said. "He's the highest ranking officer in the south, and by now he's probably heard about the Trost attack. More than likely, he's already on his way here!"

"Yeah!" Jean said with a gasp. "You're right! I hear he's crazy and eccentric. Maybe, if we play our cards right, we can convince him to allow us access to resources to try to go after Eren!"

Armin's eyes widened as Jean's suggestion slid perfectly into place, completing his plan to rescue Eren. "That might work," he mumbled under his breath. He turned to Mikasa with a growing grin on his face, and he held out his hand to help her up, which she gratefully accepted. "It's a long shot, but it could work."

"Yeah," Jean said as Marco gave him a warm smile, which for once, he returned. "We've been entirely reactive against the Titans for years. Maybe it's time we go on the offensive. Eren might be a suicidal maniac, but he's one of us. I still have my doubts about him, but I've seen how much he means to you guys. If he can control his power, then he could be the hope that humanity has been waiting for."

Reiner gave a firm nod to Jean, clearly impressed, before turning to the rest of the group. "So. We're all in favor of trying this?"

"There's something you all should know," Mikasa said, her expression turning deadly while she rolled her shoulders, grimacing in pain, reminding Armin immediately of what Annie was capable of. "If we're going to be facing her, then all of us need to be ready for anything. When I fought Scylla, she almost killed me several times."

She glanced over at him, and he knew that what she said next was directed at him. "She's not our friend. She betrayed us. If we don't treat her as our enemy, then our chances of rescuing Eren will slip away. I'm not about to let that happen. If I need to, I'll kill her, and I won't hesitate to fight whoever gets in my way."

"No, wait," Armin said as he furrowed his brows, desperately trying to reconcile two different sides of himself. On one hand, he recognized that Annie was dangerous, and that she probably wouldn't give Eren up without a fight. On the other hand though, he still cared for her, and despite her betrayal, he couldn't stomach the thought of watching her die.

"We might not have to kill her," he continued carefully. "In fact, it would probably be better to capture her alive, since she undoubtedly has useful information about the outside world."

Mikasa gave Armin a suspicious look, but after deliberating for several long moments, she gave him a curt nod, filling him with an unexpected sense of relief.

"Alright then," Jean said with a sense of finality. "Let's go get that suicidal maniac back. No matter what it takes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the longer wait on this chapter, I ended up being very busy these past couple of months, and I wasn't able to find time to sit down and concentrate properly on writing until recently. Hopefully, the remaining three chapters of Alpha Predator will come much faster.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> -AlphaBeta17 (12/17/20)


End file.
